Our staff is built to teach each student individually, to develop the skills they need to thrive in mathematics, and to foster a love of learning.

Drew Jones

Center Director

Jesse Stephens

Assistant Director
Jesse graduated from UC Berkeley in 2019 with a degree in molecular biology. He is currently pursuing a post-baccalaureate degree at UC Berkeley, intending to apply to graduate school in the next few years. Jesse spends his free time playing real-life quidditch, board games and poker.

Arielle Cook

Admin Assistant
Arielle is in her 2nd year of occupational therapy school at Samuel Merritt University. She loves working with children and young adults and hopes to become an occupational therapist. In her free time, Arielle enjoys listening to music, trying new food and strength training.

Johan Phan

Instructor
Johan is a senior at El Cerrito High School currently taking Linear Algebra and Differential Equations at Contra Costa College. Johan is passionate about math and has loved math since elementary school. He completed Calculus AB and BC in 9th grade and Multivariate Calculus in 10th grade. Johan is also an avid trombone player in the ECHS Wind and Jazz Ensembles. His hobbies include reading fantasy and sci-fi, gaming, and computer programming. What he enjoys most about math is the feeling of discovery that comes with experimentation.

Amanda Gaal

Instructor
Amanda is a Berkeley native with a BA in Theatre from Beloit College, Wisconsin. She loves helping students understand new concepts and build the confidence to solve new problems. In her spare time, she enjoys fantasy novels, comics, writing, and drawing.

Sophia Lee

Instructor
Sophia is a senior at Albany high school taking AP Calculus BC. She has always loved math and has previously tutored kids in Math, English, and Science. In her free time, Sophia loves to play tennis and the viola. She also loves to watch anime, listen to music, and hangout with her cat.

Audrey Nordenholz

Instructor
Audrey is a Sophomore at Albany High School who loves running, music, and cats. She loves that math usually has a straightforward answer and is extremely rewarding when you start to develop a real understanding for it. She is a runner on the cross country and track teams at AHS, along with a singer in Treble Chamber Ensemble. She is a chocolate lover and likes to spend time in nature.

Saadit Ahmed

Instructor
Saadit is currently enrolled in his first year of high school at Albany High School. This is his first job, and so far he’s having a great time teaching children and learning alongside them. He was led to this occupation through his immense interest in math, and spends a good chunk of his free time online studying new theorems and ideas in the world of math. Besides that, he enjoys playing chess, playing video games, and hanging out with his friends.

Takeo Fernandez

Instructor
Takeo is a senior at Albany High who started working at mathnasium this summer. In addition he decided to apply here due to his interest in mathematics and computer science. In his spare time he likes to play baseball, video games, and hang out with his friends.

Xinxin Li

Instructor
Xinxin graduated from Albany High School, where she completed AP BC Calculus, and is starting her first year at UC San Diego. She loves helping kids solve problems and seeing them grow in their understanding of math. In the past, she has tutored middle school students in math and English and interned as a teaching assistant for a UC Berkeley Academic Talent Development Program writing workshop. In her free time, Xinxin likes to paint, read, and run.

Evan Chin

Instructor
Evan is a senior at El Cerrito High School who completed AP Calculus BC in his junior year and Statistics from Los Medanos College this past summer. He has enjoyed math since elementary school because of its problem-solving aspect and a deep understanding from a series of great teachers; he loves teaching at Mathnasium because he can share that deep understanding with students and hopefully inspire them. Besides math, he also enjoys playing the cello, listening to music, leading two clubs, and spending time with his family.

Sana Arya

Instructor
Sana is an Albany High School senior who takes a liking to STEM-related subjects. Working at Mathnasium has allowed her to further explore this interest in mathematics, as well as meet and form bonds with students. Before tutoring at Mathnasium, Sana volunteered in neighborhood summer camps and daycares. In her free time, nothing is better than spending her day sculpting portraits while listening to new music.

Grace Xu

Instructor
Grace is a junior at Albany High School enrolled in Precalculus Honors. Grace loves the challenge of working on math problems and the satisfaction of finding solutions. She hopes to help others better understand math so they can love it just as much as she does. Grace has experience teaching dance to younger students at Ahlan Dance. Other than math, Grace enjoys dancing, making arts and crafts, and spending time with friends and family.

Si-Jae Teh

Instructor
Si-Jae is a sophomore at Albany High School currently taking Accelerated Math 2/3. She enjoys mathematics as there is always something new to learn---the "lightbulb" moment when everything finally clicks is such a satisfying feeling and never gets old. Si-Jae loves working at Mathnasium and helping students become even more mathematically adept than before; it feels wonderful when someone benefits from her help and advice.

Pasha Krasnoiarov

Instructor
Pasha is a Sophomore at El Cerrito High school who is currently taking honors pre-calculus. He has enjoyed doing math both in and out of school since the 6th grade. Additionally, he is in the El Cerrito high school symphonic band where he plays the trombone. Pasha enjoys working at Mathnasium because it adds practice for the foundations of math.

Sabine Scott

Instructor
Sabine is majoring in mathematics for Advanced Study at San Francisco State University and is currently taking real analysis and modern algebra. Sabine has two black cats, Millipede and Charcoal. Sabine likes playing bass guitar, painting, playing video games and working out.

Bryn Bell

Instructor

Charlie Bliss

Instructor
Charlie is a senior at Albany High school who is taking AP Calculus, AB and AP physics. He enjoys working with computers and other logic problems. Outside of school Charlie likes to play board and video games with his friends.

Ben Lehman

Instructor
Ben is an Engineer from Harvey Mudd College, recently having worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. At Mudd, he took graduate-level signals & systems in addition to Engineering Mathematics and Advanced Linear Algebra/Differential Equations. Ben is also an urban cyclist, and you may have seen his bike outside Albany-Berkeley Mathnasium. His hobbies include singing in choir, tabletop RPGs, and making Matlab crash. What he enjoys most about math is the feeling when things 'click'.

Our Mathnasium Mission

Teach children math so they understand it, master it, and love it. Math can change their lives, and they can change the world.

What I love about Mathnasium is the ability to teach problem-solving skills and make math make sense, while also making a student smile.
Amber W., Mathnasium Instructor
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Are you interested in changing lives through math? We're looking for outstanding individuals with a high level of commitment who are passionate about teaching math. Find out if there's a Mathnasium position that's just right for you!

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