Meet Some Of Our Expert Tutors
If you are looking for an expert tutor, Firefly Tutors are qualified individuals with expertise in the subject matter you need help with.
Emily Allen
Firefly Tutors is proud to recognize Emily Allen as our March Tutor of the Month! With over 20 years in education and community service, she has helped recruit top-tier tutors, interviewing over 200 candidates and onboarding 116 in just one year. Her passion and dedication make her an invaluable part of our team—thank you, Emily!
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Noelle Dickenson
With an impressive 27 years of experience in public education, Noelle brings a wealth of knowledge, passion, and dedication to every tutoring session. Based in Seal Beach, CA, Noelle has taught a wide range of subjects to students from 1st to 6th grade and is known for her ability to connect with each student individually, helping them unlock their full potential.
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Stacey Boykin
We're excited to celebrate Stacey Boykin as Tutor of the Month! Stacey began tutoring with Firefly in April of 2024, bringing over 25 years of experience in teaching and tutoring. Based in Los Alamitos, CA, she is passionate about helping students succeed, and her dedication to their growth shines through in every session.
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Samantha Mirabal
Introducing Samantha Mirabal, our inspiring Tutor of the Month for December 2024! Based in Huntington Beach, Samantha has been a valuable part of the Firefly Tutors family for the past year. With over 10 years of experience in education, her exceptional dedication to her students and ability to spark confidence in learning make her an incredible asset to our team.
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Jeanie Hatfield
Introducing Jeanie Hatfield, our inspiring Tutor of the Month for October 2024! Jeanie resides in the vibrant city of Fullerton, CA, and has been an incredible asset to the Firefly Tutors team since joining in August 2024. She brings over 30 years of teaching and tutoring experience, and a wealth of knowledge and dedication which she applies to each student she tutors.
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Alex Zhong
Alex values making new friends with students and passing on knowledge to help them. Alex’s favorite tip is; “We find success from our failure, and it’s ok to make a mistake if we are willing to correct it.” He suggests, “When my students share their happy and sad thoughts with me, that’s the moment I know we have built a trust and connection with each other so I can pass on my knowledge and experience to them.”
Read More About Alex Zhong
Alexis Singleton
An interesting fact about Alexis is that she was a young tutored student of Diane Lewis (CEO of Firefly Tutors). Alexis is now following in Diane's footsteps, becoming a tutor herself.
Alexis tutors reading, math, and writing.
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Anicia Hibdon
What Anicia loves most about being a tutor is serving the unique needs of each student and helping them succeed. “Each student and each assignment is different -- the opportunities are endless for a flexible and rewarding service to others.”
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Araid Denson
Araid loves sharing her expertise with students in the areas where they struggle. Araid’s favorite tip for students is that students deserve respect. Once they understand their concerns, viewpoints, and general outlook on life they are more motivated to learn and work with the teacher. She believes it is important to assess and reflect upon the lessons taught on a daily basis.
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Ashley Furst
Ashley Furst is an accomplished singer, writer, and anchor. She is one of the singers featured on a Sony album titled "Christmas Classics" which became a Certified Gold Record along with some of the biggest names in music including; Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, and Tony Bennett.
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Bo Neshat
A resident of Riverside, California, Bo has been tutoring with A+ In-Home Tutors for over seven years. What Bo loves most about being a tutor is the fulfillment he receives through supporting his students to achieve success. “My greatest reward comes when I see that light in my student’s eyes,” says Bo.
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Brandon Lim
Presenting Brandon Lim, our esteemed Tutor of the Month for February 2024! Hailing from the vibrant city of Long Beach, CA, Brandon brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to the Firefly Tutors team.
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Dakota Reistad
Dakota is based in Palm Springs, California. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics with a minor in Mathematics and has been tutoring for Firefly Tutors since October of 2022. Dakota specializes in algebra, pre-calculus, calculus, trigonometry, geometry, and physics.
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Danelle Barr
Introducing Danelle Barr, our outstanding Tutor of the Month for September 2024! Danelle resides in the beautiful city of Laguna Niguel, CA, and has been a valuable member of the Firefly Tutors team for a year. She brings over 20 years of experience working with children.
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Eliza Ross
Eliza is from Apple Valley, California and while she is best versed in anatomy, physiology, and math, she tutors all subjects from Kindergarten through 12th grade. “What I love most about tutoring is that I am actively engaged with the minds of our future,” says Eliza. “I enjoy seeing how much progress students make and the joy that radiates from their faces when they know they have accomplished something great.”
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Emiliano Noriega-Petti
Located in Whittier, California, he has been tutoring most subjects for over a decade. Emiliano’s personal favorite subject matter being English, as his father was a librarian. Emiliano’s passion for tutoring is at its highest when he is assisting students in their journey to getting into college. In addition, he is passionate about helping to pair students’ personal life goals with applicable majors.
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Jeremiah Vue
Hailing from Sacramento, CA, Jeremiah has been a dedicated member of the Firefly Tutors family for over a year, with an impressive five years of tutoring experience under his belt. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics, making him a valuable asset in the world of education.
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Joel Elkins
Joel’s favorite tip for students is in math. “Think of the numbers not as abstract concepts but as real things. Negative numbers are how down they go, positive numbers are how up they go. Fractions are how many slices of pizza they have. Equal signs are like fulcrums on a scale.”
Read More About Joel Elkins
Joseph Previtali
From Woodside, California, Joseph has been educating others for over ten years. “My proudest moment as a tutor is whenever a student, especially one who was struggling, achieves mastery of an important concept.” At Firefly Tutors, we value tutors celebrating the victories of their students.
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Kristi Miller
Kristi L. Miller, a dedicated tutor from Big Bear City, California, has been named the Firefly Tutors November Tutor of the Month for 2023. With 1.5 years of experience as a tutor, Kristi's passion for teaching shines through as she tutors a wide range of subjects, including Reading, Writing, English, Math, Science, Spanish, Poetry, Life Coaching, and Guitar, for students ranging from K-12 to college/university levels.
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Meghan Tristan
Meghan’s favorite memory from tutoring was when her niece was homeschooling. Her niece displayed low self-esteem and didn’t believe in her own capabilities. In her 8th grade year, she received the honors award from her school for a 3.6 GPA. She was in disbelief of receiving the award showcasing a huge smile that came across her face. This is why tutoring her niece was all worth it.
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Melissa Marmo
Melissa shared her favorite memory with one of her students. “A favorite memory is when one of my students was very excited to take on a text-evidence close reading ELA activity. He is only in 2nd grade, and he did wonderfully on this third-grade supplemental task. He loved being challenged and learning a new skill.”
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Mengran Liu
Mengran tutors the beautiful Chinese language of Mandarin. Native to China, Mengran appreciates that more and more people want to learn her mother language. She observes that many people like herself were born in a non-English speaking country and grew up learning English. Mengran continues to teach Chinese and hopes that Mandarin will become a popular international language the same as English.
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Morgan Hartshorn
The most important tip Morgan shares is to build relationships with students when teaching them. Morgan says; “Gaining their trust makes kids much more willing to learn, and discovering their interests reveals different methods for effective tutoring. For example, if a fourth grader loves animals but dislikes math, make story problems that relate to running a veterinary practice. Just like Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, try many different strategies and see which ones work.”
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Pierre Peasha
Pierre received a magna cum laude from California State University, Bakersfield with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance Concentration. He currently is a Communicative Disorders leveling student at Eastern New Mexico University. Pierre plans to get his Master of Science in Communicative Disorders from California State University, Northridge to complete his education to become a speech-language pathologist.
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Randel Chow
Randel's favorite tip to students is for students who have trouble with writing assignments, I find that discussing the topic with the student helps him/her discover what to write. Randel also is an avid musician. Up until the pandemic, he performed semi-professionally on stage as a guitarist.
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Rebecca Aimone
I started with a student during her seventh-grade year. She was getting D's and F's. With some intense hours of tutoring in study skills, math, and science, she was able to bring her grades up and she graduated from middle school on the Honor Roll. She is a sophomore in high school now and has maintained her grades in the A's and B's.
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Rebecca Anderson
Introducing Rebecca Anderson, our dedicated Tutor of the Month for April 2024! Hailing from the serene city of Lake Elsinore, CA Rebecca brings a wealth of passion and expertise to the Firefly Tutors team!
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Rhiannon (Rio) Rodriguez
Introducing Rhiannon (Rio) Rodriguez, our Tutor of the Month for January 2024! Coming from the desert city of Helendale, CA, Rio has been an integral part of the Firefly Tutors family since July 2023, bringing her unique blend of expertise and passion to our team.
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Rick Neisser
We celebrate Rick Neisser as our Firefly Tutor for May 2022. He resides in Costa Mesa, California and has been tutoring with Firefly Tutors for 3 years. Rick loves both the mental challenges and emotional rewards of tutoring. Preparing a lesson keeps Rick sharp, allowing him to relearn the subject while figuring out the best ways of presenting the material.
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Samirah Martinez
Samirah shares one of her favorite student success stories. One of my students had been struggling to read for years. Once we found something that worked, she was able to read signs in stores and on TV. Her family was so happy, and I am glad to have been a part of that.
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Sarah Wells
Sarah reflects on her success story, “My proudest moment as a tutor has been seeing at-risk students get to graduate and walk with their class. The accomplishment and empowerment on their faces as they walked means that I did my job and I did it well.”
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Shara Bernard
From tutoring young ones to older students, breaking larger tasks into smaller, manageable units is an invaluable key to prevent a student from feeling overwhelmed in learning a new skill or completing a project.
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Sharon Wanderdam
We celebrate Sharon Wanderdam as our Firefly Tutor for April 2022. She resides in Davis, California, and brings over 7 years of experience to our program. Sharon loves making personal connections with each of her students. This special bond makes the sessions fun, and heartening for both. Trust helps students become more receptive and comfortable to ask questions and reach their academic goals.
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Sophie Stauffer
Sophie values the importance of building the confidence of her students. Sophie’s favorite tip to help her students learn is to allow students to make choices whenever possible. She suggests even proposing small choices such as, “would you rather practice fractions or word problems next?” Sophie emphasizes that this practice “gives students agency of your time with them.”
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Taylor Nguyen
Taylor Nguyen is a dedicated tutor based in Garden Grove, CA. With a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and a Master of Arts in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness, Taylor has been tutoring for Firefly Tutors for the past 10 months. Specializing in Math and Chemistry, she finds immense joy in helping her students understand complex concepts and witnessing their "light-bulb moments" of comprehension.
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Trinity Conway
There are many proud moments as a tutor, but recently she worked with a young lady who struggled with her motivation to learn and even struggled to attend school due to mental health anxiety. After their first session, she told Trinity she hadn't enjoyed school at all in the past few months and had barely done any schoolwork. After their first tutoring session, her jest to learn was reignited and she looked forward to learning again.
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Veronica Alvarez
Veronica earned her Behavioral Therapist and Behavioral Science Bachelor's Degree and tutors all academic subjects from reading, science, and mathematics. Veronica’s favorite subject is English and is amused by the amazing power of a good book.
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Yulia Song
Congratulations to Yulia Song, our April Firefly Tutor of the Month! She has been working with Firefly Tutors for seven month and has been tutoring, teaching, and mentoring for five years. The subjects she tutors are mathematics, reading comprehension, language skills, English, and science.
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Seirra Wolfe
Introducing Seirra Wolfe, our esteemed Tutor of the Month for May 2024! Sierra comes from the vibrant city of Auburn, CA, and has become a vital member of our Firefly Tutors team since joining us last December.
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Madison Hoover
We are thrilled to announce Madison Hoover as our Tutor of the Month for July 2024! Based in sunny San Diego, CA, Madison brings a remarkable blend of expertise and enthusiasm to Firefly Tutors.
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Santiago Liera Campos
Introducing Santiago Liera Campos, our esteemed Tutor of the Month for August 2024! Santiago, resides in the vibrant city of Davis, CA, and brings a dynamic blend of expertise and enthusiasm to Firefly Tutors.
Read More About Santiago Liera Campos
Tutor Of The Month
We’re excited to recognize Emily Allen as our Tutor of the Month for March! Emily has been a Tutor Talent Scout for Firefly Tutors for the past year, and in that time, she has played an essential role in helping us find and onboard exceptional tutors who are committed to making a difference in students’ lives.
Background and Experience
Emily’s rich background in education and community service spans over two decades. She’s been a homeschool parent to her six children for over 15 years, and her diverse experience includes tutoring for the past three years, serving as the president of the Clarksville Charter School board for six years, and as the president of her church’s children's organization for over three years.
In addition to her leadership roles, Emily spent ten years as a music educator for children ages 3-12 years and another ten years as a church choir director and music coordinator. She also owned and operated a large family childcare home and preschool, showcasing her deep commitment to nurturing young minds.
What She Loves Most About Being a Tutor Talent Scout
What Emily loves most about her role is the opportunity to meet and interview candidates who are just as passionate about teaching children as she is. She enjoys hearing their inspiring stories and learning about the incredible students they’ve worked with. Emily also cherishes her collaboration with the Firefly Tutors administrative team, all of whom share a genuine care for the families they serve and work tirelessly to support students, parents, and schools.
Hiring Accomplishments
Since joining Firefly Tutors, Emily has interviewed over 200 candidates and successfully onboarded 116 tutors who are now working with students in need of support. Her dedication to finding the best talent is evident in every hire, and her contributions are helping to build a team that truly makes a difference in the lives of children.
Fun Facts About Emily
- Emily comes from a very musical family and has a dream of starting a family band. She loves to sing and play the autoharp.
- Dancing is her favorite way to exercise! She’s been meeting up with a group of friends for Zumba several times a week, where they take turns learning new routines and teaching them to the group.
- In her spare time, Emily enjoys gardening, crocheting, playing board games, and cooking. She’s especially known for making the best homemade bread and cinnamon rolls!
We’re grateful for all the hard work Emily puts into her role as a Tutor Talent Scout. Her passion for education, her experience, and her dedication to Firefly Tutors and the families we serve make her an invaluable part of our team.
Thank you for everything you do, Emily! We’re lucky to have you!
