Meet the Team at Mathnasium of Rockford

Tim Aures

Tim joins Mathnasium after a 43-year career teaching math, specializing in the topics of pre-algebra and high school algebra. He has been the 7th-grade math teacher at Marshall Middle School with the RPS #205 Gifted Academy for his last 20 years of teaching, in addition to teaching at Flinn Middle School and Auburn High School. Tim's passion in teaching math comes from the joy he receives in seeing his students learn to love math and use the skills to positively impact their lives. His success in teaching math comes from his talent in explaining concepts concisely and clearly. There are many ways to solve most math problems. Tim's teaching philosophy is that the role of the tutor is to find the method that works best for each student, and he's excited to find that best method for each Mathnasium student! In his free time, Tim enjoys staying involved in the church community, exploring new activities, as well as spending time with his daughter.

Terrance Hart

Terry is glad to be an instructor for Mathnasium as a way to fulfill his passion for teaching. He is a physics instructor at Rockford University and has taught physics at Rock Valley College. He also tutors students in math at Rockford Lutheran School where he has taught math and physics. In his free time, Terry enjoys singing in choirs, playing piano, baking, and exercising.

Melis Dik

Melis, having math professors as parents, has always been surrounded by a love for math. She has been tutoring math in various capacities, with all different subjects and levels of rigor, and she wants to pass this positive environment to the students at Mathnasium. Melis attends Johns Hopkins University on a premedical track, and graduated locally as valedictorian of Auburn’s Gifted Class, having taken and excelling in the most rigorous math and science courses available, including AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C. Outside of math, Melis likes to read, go biking, and watch movies with her younger sister.

Ekaterina Dmitrieva

Ekaterina has grown up around a love for math and a passion for teaching, with her mom having a Ph.D and being a math professor for some time, and passing the knowledge and skills down to her. She has competed in many math competitions such as the American Math Competition (AMC), Math Kangaroo, and has even won first place at a MathCounts competition in middle school. Her love for math is accompanied by an endless love for kids as she has two younger siblings and has been volunteering at her church nursery for over 5 years. In high school she has also participated in multiple WYSE testing competitions for math and science. She also has taken many rigorous classes such as AP Chemistry, and is ranked among the top three in her class. She is on her way to starting AP Calculus in the fall after successfully finishing all courses through Trigonometry. In her free time, Ekat enjoys running competitively, playing volleyball, painting, and hiking with family and friends.