Teresa Sedano is a resident of Santa Rosa, California and has been a certified ASL interpreter for over 20 years in a variety of settings, most specifically for the California State Department of Rehabilitation and post-secondary settings.  Teresa was founder and executive director of Stagesigns, Inc., which provided theatrical interpreting within the Sacramento community to Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences.  Stagesigns was one of the first West Coast organizations to utilize Deaf Interpreters as part of their many interpreted productions, most particularly, the Children’s Fairytale Theatre at Sacramento Community College. She is a retired adjunct faculty at American River College, instructing sign language interpreting students in the area of Ethics and Professional Standards as well as Service Learning. 

She holds a Master’s degree in Contemplative Education, and has trained specifically in contemplative art, which includes concepts such as mindfulness, presence, and breath work in order for each individual to explore the joy of self-expression during the creative process.

Teresa has a passion for art and its’ healing and de-stressing properties, and is a member of the Northern California Art Therapy Association. She holds a certificate in “Expressive Art Therapy”, and has taught art to young pre-school children at “Young Rembrandts”, an after-school art program.

Teresa has enjoyed a long collaboration with the Crocker Art Museum, including coordinating a mentorship program for interpreting students from American River College; pairing them with docents for tours which allowed access to the local Deaf community. She is the owner of Awakened Heart Designs, providing group workshops and 1-1 instruction in contemplative art concepts and basic meditation instruction.

Saba Mahmud holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. Ms. Mahmud has over 10 years of experience tutoring high school and college students in Chemistry and Biology, as well as Biochemistry. As a science student and experienced tutor, she assesses the understanding of her students before diving into teaching. She walks the students through the material, only helping where necessary, allowing the students to work as much on their own as possible.  She does her best to put her students at ease and makes sure they feel confident with the material before the session is complete. 

She uses online tools and molecular models to help explain the concepts of Chemistry in an effective manner. She has been tutoring online since before the COVID, and continued online lessons during the pandemic as well. She is aware of how the pandemic has changed the mode of instruction in high school and college STEM courses, especially in lab settings. Her approach is individualized and focused on her students. 

Michael Jurist is a graduate of the Park School of Baltimore and currently studying Philosophy at Towson University. A longtime chess player, photographer and filmmaker; Jurist is always excited to share his knowledge with those wanting to learn!

My name is Olajuwon Kunle-Rabiu but my friends call me Juwon. I am a college student who loves helping others with academic and hobby-related problems, including but not limited to math, English, chess, etc by providing a safe and judgment-free zone for my clients. 

I've played chess since I was four and have been to multiple tournaments as a child so I'm very familiar with how the child's brain works when learning chess and how to best keep their attention as well as making chess fun.

I am currently a math coach tutor at Lakeland Elementary School and I work with primarily 4th grade students, but I can assist with math subjects at any level in the Elementary and Middle School system. I believe my experience in being a math tutor makes me the right candidate to teach your child math because, as I said before, I know how to keep a child's attention.

Daniel Wheeler is a Securities Analyst at Wells Fargo, part time tutor at Sylvan of Catonsville, and an experienced Dungeon Master for D&D. A long-time fascination with both mathematics and history/fantasy worlds led to a Bachelors of Arts degree in Ancient Studies and a Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Early on at UMBC, Dan played his first game of D&D, fourth edition, with some friends from High School after having interest in it for some time. Daniel fell in love with the game immediately. He eventually found himself leading games as the Dungeon Master, or DM, at various points during college, and several more times since then. Running both premade modules and homebrew campaigns, he has experience with all types of situations that may arise, and a solid understanding of the rules, and worlds in which the game happens. His degree in math and experience tutoring gives him the background to teach the math skills that are required to play the game to students who need extra practice or who struggle with math. Daniel also has experience with rockets, and other sorts of scientific fields from his time in college and doing independent experiments with friends.

My name is Tanya Harris. I have been a Japanese Teacher at Waipahu High since October of 2002. And I have been a proud Marauder for 18 years. I have a bachelor of Science in Languages and Linguistics Degree from Georgetown as well as a Master’s Degree of Comparative Culture and Language Research from Kurume University. And I have a Master’s degree in Education from Chaminade University. 

I grew up here in the islands on the best side of the island, the windward side. I actually came to Hawaii when I was 1 years old and celebrated my 2nd birthday in Waikiki. My father was a scientist and was quite renown in his field.  His name was Dr. Ernest James Harris. My mother was an activist and is also quite well known. Her name is Bettye Jo Harris. I have two brothers older and younger, which puts me right in the middle.  We as a family constantly traveled around the world, because of my father’s position as an entomologist with the Department of Agriculture.  I was exposed to other cultures at a very young age. I learned French and then later on in my life I learned Japanese.  I am happily tri-lingual. I have learned the importance of speaking another language as well as the importance of social justice via the opportunities I have had to travel the globe. It is important to treat each other fairly no matter where they come from, what their beliefs are, or what color they are.  I look forward to teaching this class and learning about all of you.

Gabrielle (Gabby) completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Performance Theatre at Francis Marion University in South Carolina. She received an alternative teaching certificate in the state of Texas and taught middle school theatre, debate, and video production for two years. She also has experience working in a preschool along with elementary ages in an after school drama program. Gabby recently graduated with an Associates degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. In her free time, Gabby enjoyes roller blading, hiking, baking and spending time with family and friends. 

Tessa Schwartz is a senior at the University of Maryland, majoring Animal Science Care and Management. She was raised on a horse farm learning how to care, feed, and handle a variety breeds of horses.  During many summers, she served as a horse camp counselor to teach safety, horseback riding, and various equine information. In addition to science, she is versed in different mediums of art from working with clay, cardboard, wood, playing cards, and typical mediums such as paper and canvas. She likes to get involved with creative activities, which brought her into the world of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Although she got a late start learning about D&D, picking up the game in college, she has excelled in learning and quickly becoming a game master for over the last year.  She loves to share the intricacies of the game as well as the potential benefits it can bring to everyone involved. 

Leah Dawsey was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana.She received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Then she moved to Washington, D.C. to receive her first Master’s degree in Deaf Studies. After graduating from Gallaudet University, she stayed in town to receive her Museum Studies Certification from George Washington University. Moving back home to Louisiana, she began to work for the local public library for almost five years. During her time working for the library, Leah realized she wanted her second Master’s degree in Library Science which took her several years because I attended part time. She moved away again to California when she stopped working at the public library because of her husband’s job. She had her daughter in 2016 and moved back to Louisiana to be near family. Currently, she is a part time adjunct professor for University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Leah teaches ASL to the students  and in her local community. She is excited to join the organization, Art Play Learn, to teach about history, specifically Deaf history and World War II.  When she is not teaching, she loves to go for a run or a walk with her Weimaraner, Blue. You also could find her sitting somewhere reading a book or playing with her daughter.