Jamie Goldsmith

Jamie is the owner and creator of JBG Tutors. She has been tutoring for the past seven years with school systems throughout Massachusetts and worked with a top tutoring company in New York City. She attended the honors program at UMASS Amherst (specializing in clinical and developmental psychology) for her undergraduate degree, Columbia University (degree in psychology with a focus in special education) for her Masters, and presently is attending College of William and Mary (degree in Counselor Education and Supervision with a focus on multicultural counseling) for her PhD. Jamie is responsible for all inner workings of the company, handles all inquiries, initial assessment and referrals of all students, and tutors the majority of special Ed students.

Jamie develops all curriculum for the SAT & SSAT classes, hires and trains all tutors, and currently is structuring a new and innovative system to support alternative learning styles.

Andrea Larkin

Andrea is currently an academic tutor for JBG tutors as well as working in the fitness industry. She is a former 5th grade teacher with a love for kids and dedicated to educating students. She has her Massachusetts teacher licensure in elementary education. She graduated from Ithaca College in 2001 with a B.S. in Speech and Language Pathology. In December 2005, she earned her Masters in Elementary Education for Provisional Certification with Advanced Standing from The University of Massachusetts Boston. Andrea has been tutoring students in various grade levels throughout her years of teaching. She also develops and organizes classes to run during the summer months at numerous schools. Outside of education, Andrea is a certified Pilates and aerobic instructor, as well as a certified nutrition consultant, who teaches at Core Fitness in Walpole, MA. She is the Fit Kid Director at the Vanderbilt Club in Norwood, MA where she enjoys creating fitness programs for kids.

Joshua Cameron

Josh, originally from the Washington D.C. area, went to high school in Hawaii. He received a BS degree in Molecular Biology from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Josh has taught courses for several Colleges ranging from community education classes for youth probation students to medical ethics and biology. His research has included topics in functional and statistical genetics, macular degeneration, bioorganic chemistry, and eye development. Josh also spent about two years living in Japan and has advanced language skills in Japanese.

Matt Kepnes

Matthew did his undergraduate work in history and education at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst and graduated in 2003. After college, he received his Masters in Business from Suffolk University. He has just come back from traveling abroad and spending extended time in Asia, teaching English and test prep in Bangkok, Thailand. He previous taught high school history, was a camp counselor, and worked with kindergarten kids. In his free time, he used to manage the outreach program at the Sierra Club. Now, Matt his enjoying his return to America, seeing movies, catching up with old friends, skiing, and continuing to help kids and adults with their studies.

Julianne Glaneuski

Julianne is 22 years old and lives in Brockton. She graduated from Roger Williams University in May of 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and Psychology. She is currently employed at the Lee Academy Pilot School in Dorchester, MA as a Paraprofessional in the Pre-K Autistic classroom. She tutors all subject matter for the Sports for Kids after school program three days a week at Lee Academy with 1st-3rd graders. Her life long goal is to become an elementary school teacher and presently she is in the process of taking the MTEL tests to obtain her MA teacher's license. She currently holds a elementary teacher's license in Rhode Island. In September of 2008 she will begin classes at Bridgewater State College for her Master's Degree in both severe and moderate Special Education. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her friends and family, taking dance classes, and being outdoors. It has always been her passion to work with children, therefore, she is thrilled to have this position. She feels that she have much to offer her students.

Josh Christensen

Josh is a Boston native, growing up and attending Brookline public schools. He traveled west to upstate New York for college and received his B.S in Biology from Cornell University in 2004. Since then he’s been back in Boston and working in the Biotech industry. He is currently doing research in molecular diagnostics, developing the chemistry for a new HIV test. He has gained teaching experience from being a presenter at the Museum of Science, and by organizing an educational trip to Honduras. In his free time Josh likes to travel the world, be in nature, read and learn. He also enjoys little-known sports like Australian rules football, rugby, and soccer.

Geno Rodriguez

Geno Rodriguez is our IT Coordinator. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.B.A. in Operations Management. Geno was a lab instructor for an Introductory course on Business Information Systems while earning his undergraduate Business degree at UMASS. Geno spent two years working for a Fortune 500 Company as a Marketing Coordinator and prior to that, worked as an Assistant Director at a leading educational center in New York.

Megan Copeland

Giovannie C. Bejin

Giovannie, originally from Haiti is currently a pre-medical student who earned her Associates Degree in Liberal Arts Honors at North Shore Community College in 2004. She then transferred to Boston College where she graduated with her B.A in 2006. Giovannie has a lot of experience in working with children as she volunteered at several Children's Hospital. She also worked in Jamaica last Spring Break at the Jamaican Mustard Seed Communities where she assisted abandoned severely disabled children infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.

As a tutor, she has worked with Middle school and High School aged children for Catholic Charities and Upward Bound where she helped them in Math, Chemistry, Biology and French. During her years at BC, she also voluntarily tutored Haitian Creole to several service groups going to Haiti.

Presently, she is working as a Research Assistant at Dana Farber Cancer Institute while she is studying to take the MCAT to pursue a career in Pediatrics Oncology. Outside of work, Giovannie enjoys reading, listening to music and spending quality time with her family and friends.

Nancie Finck

Nancie Finck is our business consultant. She graduated from Boston University with a business degree. She brings to JBG Tutors a tremendous amount of experience having worked with a variety of small business in the set-up stages as well as maintaining the strength of the bottom line. Her strengths are marketing, advertising, billing and developing the future path of companies.

Kristen Risley

Kristen is originally from the hills of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts and went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a business degree. She worked in the HIV/AIDS field for a few years while getting a Masters of Social Work from Boston University. She believes it is the combination of the degrees which has contributed to her success as a tutor and which makes her both practical and understanding to the needs of her students and client families. She currently works for an international healthcare consulting firm in Boston. Her strengths in tutoring are in SAT/SSAT/ISEE prep as well as algebra and geometry, and essay writing skills. She has had a variety of tutoring experience over the past 10 years with both adults and a range of children and has worked for the past two years tutoring intensively in greater Metro Boston. Kristen also has a profound love for francophone countries and people, having spent time during college at the Universite de Paris and La Sorbonne. She also tutors French I and II.

Christen Adkins

Christen, originally from Lincoln, MA, earned a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies and Premedical Studies from Middlebury College in 2004. She is currently studying to take the MCAT to pursue a career in medicine. Recently, she worked as a counsellor at a camp for teenage girls, where she taught swimming and windsurfing. In her spare time, Christen enjoys biking, running, swimming, singing and reading.

Stephanie Schwartz

Stephanie grew up in Los Angeles. She earned a B.A. in psychology at Pomona College, and an M.A. in Psychology (emphasis in neuropsychology) at Washington University in St. Louis. Stephanie has been a teaching assistant many times to undergraduate and graduate students. At Washington University, she was also a Lecturer in Memory and Learning. Stephanie has taught brain-injured children and adolescents, and has experience evaluating children and adults for learning disabilities, ADHD, and other cognitive and psychological issues. She is a fifth year student pursuing her doctorate in psychology at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Stephanie is currently writing her dissertation, and hopes for a career that includes neuropsychological testing, work with adult psychiatric inpatients, and play therapy with children.

Liya Escalera

Liya grew up in Manchester, Connecticut. She attended Stonehill College where she earned her B.A. double majoring in English and Spanish. While studying at Stonehill, she was the executive coordinator of the Monday and Wednesday academic club for kids, offering tutoring to students ages k-12 in all subjects including preparing for the MCAS and SAT.

After she graduated, she began working at the New England Institute of Art while attending Simmons College pursuing her M.A. in English. For the past two years, Liya has been teaching English at The New England Institute of Art, and also working in the Academic Support Center as an advisor and remediation specialist. She also works at Mount Ida College as a writing tutor. She enjoys traveling all over the world, practicing yoga, reading, writing fiction and working with students of all ages!

Erin Osborn

Erin graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in June 2005. She graduated with Honors in Government after writing her thesis on "The Moral Mission of Schooling: Negotiating Intellectual and Civic Virtue." While at Dartmouth she played Varsity Soccer and Lacrosse, captaining the 2005 lacrosse team and playing in the NCAA Final Four last May. She recently moved to Cambridge to do political organizing work with an Education Reformer and to teach at a public elementary school.

She has much and varied experience teaching and tutoring elementary, high school and college age students. Most recently, she taught English, Math and Science in primary and secondary village schools in Kenya. She also has experience with the SAT I, LSAT and GRE tests as both a test-taker and a tutor. In her free time she enjoys dancing, playing on a coed soccer team, hearing live music, and reading and memorizing poetry.

Erica Mansky

Erica received her B.S. in Applied Developmental Psychology in 2006 from the University of Pittsburgh. At the same time she also received a certificate in American Sign Language. This past June 2007, Erica finished her Masters in Elementary Education from the University of Pittsburgh. Erica has had many opportunities through the years tutoring and teaching children through various work opportunities and internships. She has interned at the Western PA School for the Deaf as well as in a third grade classroom at a suburban Pittsburgh public school. During her free time, she enjoys cross-stitching, going to the gym, roller blading, playing racquetball, and traveling. Originally from Media, PA, Erica is excited to be in MA and is ready to explore beautiful New England.

Matt Clement

Matt, originally from Cape Cod, completed his undergraduate work in biology and chemistry at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina while captaining the soccer team. He received top honors from the North Carolina Academy of Science for research and received the Derieux award for excellence in undergraduate research. After graduating he took a position at ThermoFisher Scientific as a research scientist where he helped develop and optimize novel ELISA based platforms. He is currently working for Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the nephrology division where he is involved in many projects including kidney biomarkers and gold nanotechnology. In addition to his research he is also enrolled at Harvard University’s masters program in biology. Future plans involve applying to MD/PhD programs in the Boston area. Outside of work, he enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and soccer.

Rick Ralphson

Born in Chicago, and still "painfully" a Bears fan, Rick has lived throughout the United States and Latin America. With a BA in Psychology and Masters Degrees in Philosophy and Theology, he has taught high school for four academic years and has tutoring experience which spans fifteen years. Whether it has been accompanying Lakota children on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, facilitating annual immersion experiences for teenagers in the Dominican Republic, serving as a chaplain at a West Coast Children's Hospital, guiding families through Ropes Course adventures, or tutoring your daughter, son, or student; Rick delights in opportunities to learn from others and enthusiastically yet humbly share his gifts.

His educational philosophy emphasizes the vital importance of respect, encouragement, diligence, compassion, and patience; and Rick tries to live the following: In all things, love and serve. His primary tutoring expertise lies in the Humanities, especially languages such as Spanish, and even some classical Greek and basic Latin; and he has coached many students through their essays and presentations. Rick's hobbies include all types of exercise, flag football, reading poetry, and delighting in the diversity of creation.

Allison Welsh

Alley grew up on a farm in Lambertville, NJ. She earned her degree in Biology at Dartmouth College, where she focused on medical research and played field hockey. Afterwards, she spent two months in rural Kenya, teaching, promoting women's education and working on a medical clinic & clean water project. She is currently at Yale University, working towards a PhD in Experimental Pathology.

Her research focuses on emerging roles for the Estrogen Receptor in breast cancer, and its use in optimizing therapeutic strategies for patients. She is also very interested in local/global health, policy & development as well as the use of art as an avenue for civic engagement & social change.

Alley has been involved in teaching and mentoring since high school: spending summers in CO leading outdoor adventure trips, teaching all subjects at primary and secondary schools in Kenya, private tutoring to multiple ages; and serving as a TA to undergraduates at Yale. In her free time she loves outdoor sports, traveling, live music, and reading poetry. She also designs jewelry, throws pottery, and plans to open an oyster farm someday.

Brett Veinotte

Brett graduated from Southern Vermont College with a B.A. in Communications. He continued his education at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, completing the secondary education certification program and additional masters level coursework in educational leadership. His interest in teaching was inspired by a college history professor, who turned Brett's least favorite subject into one his greatest interests. In 2002 Brett began his teaching career at Bennington School in southern Vermont. As the lead teacher of a specialized program, he designed a unique interdisciplinary curriculum for students with a variety of academic challenges. In 2004 he moved to another private school, Great Expectations, where he taught history, computer skills, algebra, consumer math, and electives in filmmaking and media ethics. During his years as a teacher, he has tutored a wide variety of students on subjects ranging from basic reading strategies to SAT prep.

Mary Lyons

Mary is originally from Walpole, MA, and she recently graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stonehill College with a B.A. in English and Philosophy. She has worked with the Upward Bound program at Brockton High School for the past four years where she tutored after school and also during the summer at their residential program. She has a great deal of experience working with middle school and high school students from a variety of backgrounds and skill levels, especially in the areas of English, Math, Science and Foreign Language. She also has served as a teaching assistant for several college classes, mainly assisting fellow students with writing for different disciplines. She is certified as an 8th-12th grade English teacher in Massachusetts and is also Red Cross certified in First Aid and CPR. She is currently working in the administrative offices of two professional theatre companies and as a Front of the House assistant at the Boston Center for the Arts; she hopes to some day have a career in the marketing and publicity of theatre in the Boston area.

Jenelle Siegal

Jenelle, originally from Derry NH, received her B.A. in English Language and Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing from Gordon College. Along with being a JBG tutor Jenelle teaches middle school Language Arts at Beacon Christian Academy in Beverly, MA. Jenelle was hired for this position because of her expertise in breaking down the writing process and encourages her students to break boundaries in genres. Jenelle has published poems in Gordon College’s literary magazine, "Idiom" as well as Gordon College's "Global Education Journal". During her undergraduate career Jenelle spent four months in Orvieto, Italy studying the relationship between visual and written art. In many ways this experience led to other accomplishments in her writing and the pursuit of volunteer opportunities. The poetry she wrote that semester enabled her to be invited to give a public reading at the "Making Literature" conference in Indiana where she won the "Honorable Mention" award in Creative Writing. Jenelle also came back and taught poetry classes at Ipswich High school and at an after school program in Dorchester, MA. Jenelle continues to visit local private schools to teach poetry classes and is involved with community arts events. Besides her love for writing, literature, and art Jenelle enjoys outdoor activities. She hopes to eventually pursue an MFA degree in Creative Writing and to enable students of all ages to experience the freedom that derives from the written word.

Shay Hershokovitz

Shay is originally from Israel, and moved to the US at the age of 12. He graduated from Newton South High School in 04' and graduated from Umass-Amherst with a degree in Biochemistry this past december. He will be attending medical school this fall, and conducting clinical research at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the interim. His dream is to become a pediatrician. He enjoys snowboarding, playing guitar, working out, and good sushi.

Amy Farrell

Amy Farrell is a Red Sox fan, married, and in enterprise credit risk management at a large bank. She received her B.S. in Economics and Finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2000 and her M.S. in Accounting and M.B.A. from Northeastern University in 2003. She started as a tutor in high school as part of a volunteer program so she could inspire children to learn, just as her teachers fostered her love of knowledge. Amy believes that organization is paramount and, as a general rule, looks to have her students not only learn the subject matter, but gain value from the learning process.

In addition to tutoring, she shuffles around in her tap dance class, attempts far too complex "do-it-herself" projects in her antique home, and is occasionally seen playing some serious defense at the local basketball court.