MIND OVER MATH TEAM
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Sara Moore | DirectorSara graduated Summa Cum Laude from UNC-Wilmington where she received her M.S and B.A in mathematics. While Sara is a self-proclaimed math nerd and appreciates all forms of mathematics, she specializes in tutoring pre-calculus and calculus I, II and III. Sara also enjoys helping students to navigate test-taking, planning and the college application process. Sara loves interacting with the parents and students of Mind Over Math.
Over the years, Sara has enjoyed exploring many different teaching avenues. As an undergraduate pursuing a degree in education, Sara tutored at a small, Title 1 elementary school in a low-income area of Wilkes County. The children at this small school touched Sara’s heart and even though she enjoyed the classroom experience, what brought her the most joy was working with each student one-on-one. Many of these students struggled with mathematics and out of a desire to help them and similar students, Sara transferred to UNCW to major in mathematics. Over the years, Sara has worked with students as private tutor, a math facilitator, and later as an instructor for both CFCC and UNC-Wilmington. As Sara’s private tutoring expanded, Mind Over Math was born. |
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Tess Miller | Assistant DirectorTess graduated Cum Laude from UNCW with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 2018. Tess then completed a Master of Arts in Teaching for secondary education in 2019. Tess is originally from Richmond and has been tutoring since 2012. She first realized her love of teaching while volunteering at elementary schools in her hometown. Tess fell in love with the feeling of helping students to succeed and to reach their goals and has been teaching and tutoring ever since.
Outside of Mind over Math, Tess enjoys volunteering, traveling, reading, and spending time with friends and family. Tess aspires to one day teach for the Department of Defense, combining her love of teaching and travel. |
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Brittany Whitener | Lead TutortBrittany completed a Bachelor's of Science in Mathematics from UNC-Wilmington in December 2018. While an undergrad, Brittany worked as a peer tutor at the University Learning Center and discovered great joy in helping others to succeed. Brittany sees herself as a problem solver and finds it very rewarding to connect with each student, building math skills and self-confidence.
Brittany joined the Mind Over Math team in 2017. She currently provides both in-person and online instruction to a wide variety of students and grade levels, with a focus on mathematics. Brittany also supports the rest of our instructional team through professional development, maintaining instructional resources, mentoring and collaborating on lesson plans. At home, Brittany enjoys spending time with her husband, Tyler and their many pets, including their dogs, Rico and Emma, turtles, geckos and fancy rat, Jesse. Brittany enjoys hiking and kayaking as well as playing Minecraft online with friends. |
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Adam Santoro | TutorAdam’s love for math and problem solving started at a young age with puzzle games and counting change. Originally from Syracuse, NY, Adam came to Wilmington after high school to continue his education. Adam excelled in calculus and began to tutor at Cape Fear Community College. When he graduated from UNCW with his Bachelors of Science in 2007, Adam was among the top in his class.
Adam has been working with Mind Over Math since 2010 and loves working one on one with students. Adam's passion for math allows him to tutor a wide array of students, but he particularly specializes in calculus and pre-calculus. |
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Cyrus Taylor | TutorCyrus is originally from Pinehurst, NC, but graduated from UNC-Wilmington in May 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics with a teaching license. While in college, Cyrus was a STAE Tutor for New Hanover County for two years, working at Ashley High School, Hoggard High School, and Murray Middle School. Cyrus was also involved in a variety of aspects on the UNC-W campus; including being a Seahawk Link, Orientation Leader, Teaching Fellow, and Watson Student Leader.
After graduating, Cyrus moved to Jacksonville, NC to teach at Northside High School. During his four years at Northside, Cyrus taught multiple sections of Math II, Math III, Advanced Functions and Modeling, and PreCalculus. Cyrus recently moved back to Wilmington and currently teaches freshman mathematics at Isaac Bear Early College. Here at Mind Over Math, Cyrus specializes in tutoring Math I, II, III and AFM. When not teaching or tutoring, Cyrus enjoys traveling and learning about other cultures by traveling abroad. Cyrus is also a huge theater nerd, with experience in both the on-stage performances, and backstage work. |
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Jacie Shuman | TutorBorn in Pennsylvania, Jacie received her BS in Biology, Summa Cum Laude from Widener University near Philadelphia in 2017. Afterwards, Jacie moved to Wilmington to begin her masters degree at UNCW. Jacie defended her thesis on the effects of eutrophication on zooplankton and graduated in May 2020 with her MSc in Marine Biology.
In addition to tutoring at Mind Over Math, Jacie currently serves as a 6th grade math teacher in Brunswick County. Her previous work experience includes serving as a UNCW biology lab instructor, MarineQuest instructor, as well as providing small group tutoring at Widener University. Jacie's passion for learning covers a wide range of topics including science, English and mathematics. Jacie loves working with a variety of students and age groups, however, her dream is to teach biology at both the college and high school level. Outside of academics, Jacie spends time with her husband and their two cats, Mo and Tater. For fun, Jacie loves to play beach volleyball, read, and bake. |
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Patrick Bedsole | TutorPatrick graduated Magna Cum Laude from NC State University in 2011, earning a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography with a concentration in chemistry. His experience in education began at NC State while working as a math and science tutor and lab instructor. Upon graduation, Patrick began work at the University of Rhode Island as both a research assistant concerning isotope geochemistry and as a teaching assistant for oceanography and climate science. Patrick also had the privilege of living abroad for two years in Tasmania, where he worked as a math and science tutor, primarily with algebra, differential calculus and general chemistry.
Patrick enjoys connecting mathematics and science to everyday life and he emphasizes this approach in his tutoring sessions. Patrick brings over ten years of teaching and tutoring experience to Mind Over Math, where he enjoys teaching math and science to a wide variety of ages. In his downtime, Patrick enjoys surfing and skateboarding. He also hopes to travel back to Australia at some point in the future. |
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Savannah Johnson | TutorSavannah attended Pfeiffer University and graduated in 2016 with a B.S. in Biology and Pre-Medical Studies and a minor in Chemistry. While at Pfeiffer University, she was an intern for National Geographic working with the Big Cats Initiative, an intern at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at the North Carolina Zoo, and a teaching assistant for Project Genes, a Pfeiffer University summer experience for high school students.
She is currently attending UNCW as a graduate student in the Marine Biology department. Her research focuses on the developmental processes behind craniofacial skeletal growth in African cichlid fishes. For the last two years she worked as a teaching assistant for Anatomy & Physiology I and II labs. Savannah will be finishing her M.S. in Marine Biology in December of 2020. Savannah was recently accepted into the M.A.T. in Secondary Education program at UNCW and will be working towards her second masters degree and teaching license over this next year. Outside of work Savannah enjoys cooking, being outside, reading, traveling, and spending time with her family and fur babies Chunk, Paprika, and Presley. |
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Grace Suter | TutorGrace attended UNC-Wilmington and graduated Cum Laude in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and a minor in Education. During her time at UNCW, Grace served as a volunteer for the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher's education department, where she found a passion for helping others learn. Here at Mind Over Math, Grace specializes in teaching math and science to middle and high school students. Grace enjoys getting to know her students and leading them to their "light bulb" moment.
Outside of academics, Grace enjoys going to the beach, spending time with her cat, Milo, and being creative in anyway she can. |
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Helen Blades | TutorHelen is from Raleigh, NC and is currently a senior at UNC-Wilmington. Originally an education major, Helen's love for teaching and helping others inspired her to become a tutor. As an educator with a strong analytical side, Helen is now pursuing a degree in business with a double concentration in analytics and economics. Helen continues to pursue her passion for both math and teaching as a tutor at Mind Over Math. Helen specializes in middle grades math and enjoys teaching algebra to all age groups.
Outside of class and teaching, Helen is a part of the Cameron Executive Network at UNCW. As a member of this program Helen gets to work one-on-one with business professionals to advance her skills and network. Helen also loves to run and watch football. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time on the beach with friends and playing with her dogs. |
Rebecca Stevens | Office AssistantIf you call our office, you're most likely to speak with Rebecca! Here at Mind Over Math, Rebecca assists in the day to day management of the office: fielding questions, helping students to check in and providing amazing support to staff, parents and students alike.
Rebecca received her B.S. in Psychology and M.H.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Florida. She loves being outdoors, appreciating nature. At home, Rebecca enjoys painting, jewelry-making and other crafts, as well as music and literature. |