Helayna

Certified Tutor

Who am I?

I am a recent M.Ed graduate and soon-to-be-licensed Reading Specialist, currently working towards my Middle/High School English Language Arts and Social Studies endorsements. I enjoy the balanced give-and-take of working with teenagers, and spend most of my time during the school year substituting at the middle and high schools in my area.

More specifically (for those of you who've decided to keep reading past the introduction blurb above :-D ), I'm a two-time graduate of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon; I earned my Bachelor's in Elementary Education in 2012 and my Master of Education and ML/HS Reading Specialist degree just this past April. As a part of my graduate school studies, I completed an Action Research project working with high school seniors in a Language Arts support classroom; my focus was on the positive impact that can result from giving students a voice in their own education. Prior to making the move to GFU, I studied paraeducation (instructional assisting, often in special education settings) at Portland Community College and psychology and sociology at Chemeketa Community College.

For the past five years, I've worked as a substitute teacher for schools in and around Newberg; my favorite classes to sub in tend to be high school and middle school Social Studies and English Language Arts, which is why I'm currently working towards earning my official teaching endorsement in those areas. I've also occasionally taught (or attempted to, if necessary ^_^) Spanish, Health, Yearbook, Oregon Ecology, Horticulture, sixth grade math, Band, and Choir-- which, because I can't sing, conduct, or read vocal music to save my life, once involved watching the first half of "Kubo and the Two Strings" a total of six times in one day. One of my bucket list items now is to someday watch the second half as well... not six times, just once, thank you very much :-D

When I'm not subbing or tutoring, I enjoy reading mysteries, psychological thrillers, fantasy/sci fi, and young adult fiction. When I'm not subbing or reading, I enjoy watching favorite shows (Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, The Flash, Firefly, and Doctor Who, among others) with my 3 teenagers. And when I'm not subbing, tutoring, reading, or watching Netflix, I'm probably either sleeping or drinking coffee :-) Such is the luxurious life of a Varsity Tutor!