Meet the Team at Mathnasium of Champlin Park

Bobby Tarnowski

It thrills me to see a young person's face light up when they make the connection of how math works and is useful in the things they're passionate about. I believe that a solid understanding of mathematics is foundational in our ability to make good life choices, equipping us to live with greater independence and accomplishment of our goals. I graduated from St. John's University with a B.A. in Mathematics and continued with a Masters Program in Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of St. Thomas. Math has been instrumental throughout my career in engineering and management.

Cheyenne Skager

Cheyenne is a graduate of Champlin Park High School and its IB Program. With aspirations to be a Mathematics teacher who helps students who struggle with understanding math fundamentals, Cheyenne is currently pursuing her Associate of Arts at North Hennepin Community College. She values math as a means helping herself and others understand abstract concepts and develop logic and reasoning skills which further benefit communication and decision-making. When she’s not teaching or studying, you might find Cheyenne wrapped up in a good fantasy story or with Harvest Moon, her cat.

Keana Raley

Keana grew up in Brooklyn Park and graduated from Park Center High School. She is currently attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and pursuing degrees in mathematics and psychology. She plans to attend medical school after undergraduate with an interest in psychiatry or pediatrics. Keana’s favorite part of being an instructor is finding creative ways to break down challenging mathematical concepts into simpler ideas student can grasp and have fun with. When she’s not teaching or attending classes of her own, she loves reading at coffee shops with a good latte in hand or spending the day painting.

Garrison Finke

Garrison was born right here in Brooklyn Park and currently attends Champlin Park High School. At school, Garrison is a part of cross country and track, plays the violin and also does archery. Garrison finds math to be an integral part to better understand the complicated world around us. He also is a pet lover with a dog and cat. Also, be sure to ask him about his hedgehog (though he doesn't look too much like Sonic)!

Heather Lovely

Heather was raised in Champlin while also attending Champlin Park High School. After completing school, Heather continued her education at St. Cloud State and then followed that up at St. Mary’s University. Heather thoroughly enjoys both theater as well as traveling. Her favorite part about math is that there is many applications to real life as well as coming to one perfect answer with many ways to get there. She would know this as she has taught for 22 years!

Johanna Anderson

Johanna is beginning her journey as a full-time math teacher at Progeny Academy (a charter school in Brooklyn Center), where she teaches 6th, 7th and 8th grade math. She is a strong proponent of "student-centered learning", where students are guided to construct their own explanations to questions versus "being told the answer". On top of her passion for math and education, Johanna has a fun, easygoing personality. She loves crafting, reading and puzzles--so much in fact--that she wrote a manual of how to solve a rubrix cube given any starting position! Lastly, if you're the bubbly type, ask her about her dog Arden.

Payton Almeroth

Payton was raised in Brooklyn Park and currently attends Champlin Park High School. She would ultimately like to attend college to obtain a degree in sports analytics! In her free time, she enjoys watching sports (most preferably basketball or football), playing with her dog or playing the piano. Payton finds that math is a crucial asset in understanding number awareness in daily life.

Oliver LeMay

Oliver is a Champlin Park High School student. He has aspirations of getting a degree in computer engineering or something that he thoroughly enjoys to make it not feel like a job! Oliver believes that math is not limited to only one field, with a strong math background, many other fields become a whole bunch easier! In his free time, Oliver enjoys playing Yu-Gi-Oh (he is the top tier player of our instructors at the center) or spending time with his friends!