Meet the Team at Mathnasium of Oak Park/ River Forest

Thomas Fleming

Thomas is originally from Memphis, TN, earning a Master's in Mathematics from the University of Memphis. He moved to Chicago last year so his partner could pursue a degree in Medicine at UIC. Thomas also teaches classes at Wilbur Wright College ranging from College Algebra to Calculus III. During his degree, Thomas conducted research in the area of 'Extremal Combinatorics', something which he continues to do in his free time today. Thomas looks forward to getting to know the Oak Park community as Assistant Center Director! Fun Fact: Thomas loves to cycle to work, often riding more than 100 miles in a week.

Matthew Pakulski

Matt is at the midpoint of a career centered on music, but his first academic love was math - so when he found himself with some time on his hands, he doubled the foci and made an ellipse of his career by joining Mathnasium as an instructor. With his record label FPE Records ("For Practically Everyone"), and during his time in the music recommendations technology industry, he has worked to make it easier for people to connect with music by de-mystifying it and fighting elitism in music appreciation. Matt supports Mathnasium's mission to "help kids learn math in a way that makes sense to them," and he enjoys breaking down barriers in a new arena! Fun Fact: Matt can count to Mathnasium's favorite number, 10, in Amharic, the language spoken in the capital of Ethiopia!

Charles Wilson

Charles, a graduate of Fenwick High School, is currently an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis pursuing his Bachelor’s in Applied Sciences of Chemical Engineering. Charles has always shown strong interests in science and math, which he credits to his lively teachers, professors, scholarly mentors, and friends. He has always enjoyed learning and explaining math, chemistry, and physics in casual settings between others and himself. Experience as a HighSight scholar who scored 30-32 composite ACT scores, a student amongst confused collegiate peers, and an older brother to an 11 year old sister has shown him first hand the difference an involved collaborator outside the classroom can make. Charles is enthusiastic to bring his style of that change to the OPRF Mathnasium team. Fun Fact: Charles has sung in multiple performances of the Nutcracker with the Joffrey Ballet!

Matt Pilditch

Matt resides in Oak Park with his wife and three children. Formally trained in medicine, he currently works part-time in Family Practice in Lisle. This has freed up his schedule to pursue one of his other passions, education. The son of a teacher and grade-school/high-school principal, Matt is building on experience he has gained teaching patients, medical students, and fellow church members. Matt is looking forward to "Math Instructor" being another successful teaching experience! Fun Fact: Matt is an avid gardener and loves the outdoors, especially camping with his family!

David Snyder

David is a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School and the University of Michigan Ann Arbor where he studied mechanical engineering and physics. David's love for STEM started with his Lego robotics team in middle school. He then did Vex robotics in high school and went to the world championships twice! He also plays the drums and loves rock, metal, and swing music. David uses math every day, and thinks that mental math makes everything in life easier. David loved helping his classmates and friends with calculus, chemistry, and physics, and hopes he can help students at Mathnasium too. Fun Fact: David collects Runik's cube puzzles and can solve a 7-layer Rubik's cube!

Quentin Wei-Henrys

Quentin is a junior at Oak Park and River Forest High school. Currently taking AP Calculus AB, he has taken Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Calculus, which he took at Triton College over the summer. He loves math not only because of the satisfaction that comes from solving a problem, but also because of the many creative ways to solve a single problem. He can't wait to helps others enjoy math as much as he does. Outside of school, Quentin enjoys playing on OPRF's hockey team, attending OPRF's Business Club, playing the trumpet, and being a student coach for the Chicago Hornets sled hockey team. Fun Fact: Quentin is a movie buff and enjoys watching movies in his free time!

Paisley Templeton

Paisley is currently a sophomore at Oak Park and River Forest High School. She is taking Pre Calculus and is excited to take AP Calculus AB/BC her junior year (2022-23). As a student who received tutoring at Mathnasium in middle school, Mathnasium has helped her gain confidence not only with math, but also with other activities. She loves how math has many applications and is relevant to her everyday life. Her favorite subjects in school are French, history, and, of course, math. Fun Fact: In her free time, Paisley sings, practices piano and guitar, travels, and takes karate classes!

Bianca Turner

Bianca is an incoming junior at Oak Park and River Forest High School. Bianca is on the honors track and has taken Geometry A and Intermediate Algebra A, she is excited to take College Algebra and Trigonometry this year. Bianca has always loved math and other challenging subjects like History and Chemistry. She is an avid participator in their school's History Club and attended an intensive Chemistry scholars research program at the Illinois Institute of Technology over the summer, where she researched energy storage technologies (specifically Li-S batteries). Bianca loves kids and especially loves explaining or breaking down complex concepts/problems. Bianca enjoys learning random facts about almost any subject, can play the piano, is learning Hebrew, volunteers at Beyond Hunger Food Pantry, and writes/draws/publishes her own comic books and sells them at the local comic book store (One Stop Comics) and through her art account online. Fun Fact: Bianca collects old figurines and beanie babies.

Porter Jingst

Porter is a Junior at Oak Park River Forest High School. He is currently taking Calculus AB/BC and has taken Pre-Calc A, Advanced Algebra A, Geometry. He loves math, and credits it to his favorite teacher in elementary school fostering his love, and the Percy Julian Middle School Math Team for showing him how fun the intricacies of math can be to solve. His interest in education was sparked during quarantine, when he helped to tutor his friend who was trouble understanding online classes. He also has a passion for music. He played piano and percussion, but performance is currently on the back burner for him so he can focus on his other interests. In his free time, he loves spending time playing video games with his friends and listening to music. He is excited for this opportunity to explore both math and education and is ready to bring what he has to Mathnasium. Fun fact: He is taking his third year of Japanese at OPRF High School

Hayden Jignst

Hayden is a junior at OPRF High School. His favorite subject is math, but he loves the STEM field in general. He's looking forward to starting Calculus AB/BC this year, as well as AP Music Theory. His favorite hobbies are Dungeons & Dragons and rock climbing, but he's always open to trying new things and getting to learn something new. He's also a member of his school's math team, which he's done every year since 6th grade. Hayden has been playing the piano for 12 years, and been to multiple piano camps, so he's no stranger to lots of practicing. He's excited to work at Mathnasium because math is not just one of the most important things subjects, but also the most beautiful, and he wants to share that beauty with the next generation of mathematicians. Fun fact: Hayden's favorite composer to play on the piano is Chopin!

Harry Alvarado

Harry is currently part of the class of 2023 at Lincoln Park High School. He plans to pursue Mathematics and Computer Science at Loyola. During high school, Harry has taken Euclidean Geometry, Adv. Algebra/Trigonometry, Precalculus, and Calculus AB. Harry's favorite subjects to study are Mathematics and Philosophy, and he's interested in topics such as Mathematical Philosophy, Discrete Math, Epistemology, and Linear Algebra. Harry is looking forward to applying his knowledge to the Mathnasium setting and methodology. Fun Fact: Harry knows how to configure NAND gates (a type of logic circuit) to play Tetris.

Alejandro Medina

Alejandro is a sophomore at Oak Park and River Forest High School. He is currently taking Pre Calculus, and has taken Geometry and Algebra. Next year, he will be taking AP Calculus AB/BC. Alejandro appreciates math for its daily applications, as well as the incredible number of ways in which a problem can be solved. His favorite subject are Spanish, Chemistry, and Math. Alejandro plays viola and competes in OPRFHS’s Speech Team, receiving the Degree of Distinction from the National Speech & Debate Association. He enjoys playing volleyball, as well as acting. He is a captain of OPRF’s Noteworthy , and a member of Psychology Club. Alejandro is excited to help students fall in love with math. Fun Fact: Alejandro is obsessed with playing Sudoku.

Mateo Nery

Mateo is a current senior in the class of 2023 at Oak Park at River Forest High School, with plans to pursue Computer Engineering at Columbia University in New York. Currently in Calculus III, he has taken Advanced Algebra A, Pre-Calculus A, and Calculus AB/BC. Mateo first found his love for math as a previous Mathnasium student, and has since enjoyed pursuing STEM both during and outside of school. He is an officer on the Science Olympiad Varsity team, and has enjoyed pursuing research both through the Summer Science Program and OPRF’s Investigative Research, Design, and Innovation course. Mateo also has previous experience working with kids, both as a summer camp counselor at the River Forest Community Center and as a private youth chess tutor. With a passion for STEM education, he hopes to make math easier and more exciting by showing how it can be applied anywhere! Outside of school, Mateo enjoys playing on OPRF’s tennis team, practicing piano, reading Sci-Fi novels, and spending time with his dog named Champ. Fun Fact: Mateo loves baking desserts, with his specialty being blueberry muffins!

Annika Venegas

Annika is a graduate of Elmwood Park High School. She is currently at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign majoring in math and minoring in secondary education. She has taken Calculus 1,2,3 and Discrete Math at U of I. She looks forward to sharing her passion for math through making math something that can be fun. Fun fact: In her free time she likes to embroider, bake, and go on bike rides.

Jackie Bollinger

Jackie is a junior at Oak Park and River Forest High School. She is currently taking calculus, and looks forward to taking statistics and calculus 3 next year. Jackie has always loved math because there are so many different ways to solve a problem. Her favorite subjects in school are psychology and of course, math. Outside of school, she enjoys playing competitive soccer as a goalie and has been playing piano for 12 years. Jackie also loves coaching kids ages 4 through 8 for her local soccer club. Fun fact: Jackie loves traveling and wants to get to at least 50 countries in her lifetime!

Paloma Turner

Paloma is a rising junior at Oak Park and River Forest High school. She have taken Advanced Algebra A and PreCalculus, and is excited to take Calculus AB/BC during junior year. She plan to pursue a career in engineering, and will be attending the UIC Electrical and Computer Engineering program this summer. Paloma loves being a leader: she was captain of the soccer team at OPRF where she also started Italian club and is currently president. Her favorite class has always been math, and she is so excited to work with kids and hopefully to make math class their favorite too. Fun Fact: Paloma loves music and plays the lead guitar in an alternative rock band!

Jordy Pinero

Jordy is a student at Triton College and graduated from East Leyden High School. He is a member of the Scholars Program at Triton College, where academically talented students are granted full ride scholarships. He is currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science and plans to transfer to UIC to eventually become a software engineer. At East Leyden, he took math classes all the way up to Calculus AB/BC and helped students write their essay assignments as a peer tutor. But his experience as a tutor began much earlier, as he has helped his little sister with her math homework all the way up to the sixth grade. His favorite hobbies include cooking, going to the gym, and watching anime. Fun Fact: Jordy was selected by the staff at East Leyden to be the speaker for the graduation ceremony!

Nate Singer

Nate is a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School and an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota pursuing a degree in political science. Nate has taken Adv. Algebra and AP Calculus BC. Nate has enjoyed math since he was a child for the interesting problem-solving, real-world applications, and endless room for learning. Nate is fluent in Spanish and loves learning about history in addition to math. He loves listening to music, playing games, and spending time with his brother. He is excited to work at Mathnasium to help students learn and continue growing as a tutor. Fun fact: He has played the guitar for six years!

Kezia Patino

Kezia graduated from J.S. Morton West high school in 2021 and is currently an undergraduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology where she is majoring in Architectural Engineering. She believes learning anything is possible and avidly searches for more information and works of art to inspire and invigorate her in her quest. Kezia is currently teaching herself how to work with Tekla Structures and is hoping to learn Python(only knows MatLab so far). She enjoys plein air painting as well, as it provides valuable insight on the world around her and she attempts to capture it with a series of gouache paintings. Kezia has worked at the North Berwyn Park District as a summer camp counselor and enjoys working with children. She loves working through the puzzles in math and learning more about the various applications in engineering, and is eager to help others discover how amazing math can be. In her free time, Kezia loves listening to music, making ceramics at a local studio, and playing with the family dogs(3!!). Fun fact: Kezia is currently working on invading her parent’s backyard garden with summer squash!

Gracie Maidlow

Gracie is currently a sophomore at Oak Park and River Forest High School. She loves math, both as a subject and a concept. Gracie is currently taking Pre Calculus and is excited to take AP Calculus AB/BC next year. She loves to help others learn while also extending her own knowledge. Gracie looks forward to using her skills and understanding to help others thrive to their best ability. Fun Fact: Gracie's favorite game is Monopoly