Meet the Team at Mathnasium of Cinco Ranch

Ethan Gomez

Ethan graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a 7-12 teacher certification from the University of North Texas. During his time at UNT, Ethan had plenty of experience teaching and tutoring students of all ages. For example, Ethan had early field teaching experience at 4 different schools in the DFW area, where he was able to practice implementing the various high-yield instructional strategies he was learning in his classes. Additionally, Ethan tutored his fellow UNT students in various college-level math courses during the last 2 years of his undergrad. Ethan believes that everyone can develop an intuitive understanding of math with the right help. In his free time, Ethan likes playing videos games, engaging with music, and spending time with friends and family.

Valbona Aliaj

Valbona taught math for over 35 years and have enjoyed every minute of it. After obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Physics from Albania, she taught middle and high school math for 15 years. For the past 18 years, she has taught Algebra I, II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus at the several learning centers in the Memorial and Cinco Ranch areas. She enjoys teaching math and takes pride in helping students develop confidence in their mathematical abilities. In her free time, she enjoys walking, cooking for her family, and spending time with her grandson.

Trent Zapalac

Trent is a Senior at the University of Houston pursuing a degree in Mathematics, with experience in, but not limited to; Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Calculus I, and Calculus II. He is a strong believer that everyone can learn and enjoy math with the proper tutoring. His goal isn’t to help a student get the answer to a problem, but to ensure they understand how to solve a problem themselves as well as grasp the subject on their own. During his free time, Trent enjoys expanding his knowledge of mathematics and playing video/board games with his friends and family.

Shehla Syed

A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Shehla holds a Bachelor's of Science and Arts in Biochemistry and a Minor in Business. She has experience tutoring middle and high school science and math, as well as full SAT prep. Shehla loves challenging her students to push themselves and believe in their power to learn! Math is one of the most common skills needed in many career fields, so she really takes it upon herself to help young students find their love for the subject. Shehla's goal as a Mathnasium instructor is to make every student feel understood - no matter their math level - and to help them develop confidence so they can apply their problem-solving abilities in the real world one day. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, reading, working out, and baking!

Ahmed Elhady

Ahmed Elhady is a junior university student transferring to the University of Houston. He is majoring in chemical engineering with a Pre-Med path. Ahmed believes that all math concepts are built off of one another and that anyone can learn anything if they are approached with the right attitude. He aims to understand a student's struggle in understanding and tackling learning challenges from their perspective. In his spare time, Ahmed enjoys volunteering at local community and national events, skating, and making music.

Jared Hidalgo

Jared holds a Batchelor's degree in Biology with a Chemistry minor at University of Houston. He plans to use his education to work in the research field. Jared's background in STEM has taught him that everything can be understood with time and proper time allocation, no matter how challenging. Jared enjoys working with kids to build their confidence in Math and help them understand that everyone can be a great student with dedication and hard work.

Sophia Asif

Sophia is a Senior at the University of Houston majoring in Honors Biomedical Sciences with aspirations to become a physician. She has experience as a SAT tutor and has also helped students with high school chemistry and college business math. She enjoys tutoring math and loves working with high school students. Sophia believes that it is not necessary to love a subject in order to be good at it, but when students are able to finally grasp a solid understanding of it, then anything that was difficult before becomes more tolerable, more likeable even. We can learn to love challenges when they no longer seem like challenges. And that is what Sophia aims to help her students achieve: understanding that not only gives desirable results from an academic standpoint but also from a personal development standpoint. She wants to help students overcome learning obstacles by teaching them how to problem solve and be able to apply concepts and techniques to a broader range of question types. Building these critical thinking skills prepares students to tackle the new challenges they may come across in future math courses and in the real world as well.

Vivamaria Hanna

Viva is a sophomore at the University of Texas in Austin studying philosophy in hopes of becoming a lawyer. She thinks working at Mathnasium of Cinco Ranch is one of the best things she has done so far, as it's a wonderful thing to be able to teach future generations. She understands math is an extremely important subject, regardless if one even has a future in math. As someone majoring in philosophy, she acknowledges how many of great philosophers were in fact Mathematicians and math often indirectly helps one to succeed in life. Math somehow is tied in many things and teaches valuable life skills like problem solving, abstract thinking and logic. In high school she took AP physics 1 and BC Calculus and was part of her high school robotics team. She enjoys reading, drawing, listening to music and hanging out with friends.

Boaz Choi

Boaz is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in Mechanical Engineering and a certificate in Computer Science. He enjoys tutoring math and loves working with students that are in need of help. Boaz believes that math is integral to someone's education as it is in everyone's daily life and future. Something that he also believes in is that through hard work and perseverance success is achievable. Although there may be some concepts that come to some students easier than others, there is always a way to work through those differences. He wants to help students believe that this doesn't apply to math but applies to problems in all subjects. Finding confidence within oneself to be certain that there is a way to get to the answer prepares students to go into studying with a positive mindset and in life.

Rawan Barazi

Rawan is currently a college student here in Houston majoring in Business. In the future She plans to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin and hopes to become a business lawyer. Rawan has been a tutoring elementary and junior high students for 2 years. She believes that everyone can understand and enjoy math as long as they work hard and are determined to learn. Rawan’s goal as a Mathnasium instructor is to help the students understand what they are learning, but also allow them to develop problem solving skills. During her free time she enjoys doing puzzles, working out, watching movies and playing Rummikub.

Theresa Cai

Theresa is a senior at Cinco Ranch High School. She believes that math can serve as a basis of inspiration for one's entire academic career, which is why she wants to help students feel confident in solving math problems and carry this positive mindset to other subjects they take at school. She also thinks that even though math can be difficult at times, anyone can persist through it with the right guidance and mindset. Theresa’s hobbies include learning biology, environmental science, and fishkeeping.

Lisa Faidi

Lisa is a senior at Seven Lakes High School. Lisa believes that Math requires problem solving and logic skills that will be useful in all aspects of the future. She is very passionate when it comes to working with younger students and her goal is to help kids understand math and grow in their confidence. In her free time she enjoys playing basketball, cooking, traveling, and watching movies.

Kha-Nhi Nguyen

Kha-Nhi is a senior at Cinco Ranch High School. To her, math is all about the ups and downs of overcoming challenges. Kha-Nhi likes math because it has always had a big impact on her life and schoolwork, and it has taught her many good lessons about working to problem solve and being a critical thinker. Working at Mathnasium allows her to incorporate these useful skills while also having fun working with kids. Most importantly to her, it is a fun and interesting process to teach and learn from. Some little things about her are that she likes trying new foods, traveling, baking, and creating healthy habits!

Claire Huang

Claire is a senior at Cinco Ranch High School. She believes that although math may not be everyone’s favorite subject, it is an important tool used in various aspects of daily life. While math can be difficult, persevering and taking the time to understand each concept allows for individuals to develop their problem-solving skills and patience. She hopes that by becoming an instructor, she is able to help at least one student understand the subject a bit better. In her free time, Claire likes to draw, listen to music, watch videos, and hang out with friends and family.

Sue Kwon

Sue is a certified Texas educator with over 30 years of experience in teaching. As a math tutor in college, she enjoyed helping middle and high school students develop a solid understanding of fundamental math concepts and skills. Sue graduated with a B. A. in Education in S. Korea and ended her classroom teaching career at a public high school in Houston in the summer of 2006. She is thrilled to expand her desire to teach children beyond the public school system. Sue believes that a solid foundation in math is vital for today's children to succeed in their future endeavors and is excited to introduce Mathnasium to the students in her local neighborhood. She is looking forward to highlighting her students' potentials as well as offering them the opportunity to experience the fun of math and to develop successful problem-solving and critical thinking skills. She continues to learn from people she meets every day of her life.