Happy beginnings!
Hello, welcome to our corner of the world in pretty pleasant creative Maplewood, NJ. My family recently moved to the area after several years of living the busy NYC life in a small Manhattan apartment.
We are so happy to meet more and more members of the South Orange and Maplewood community, from peppy dogs to warm neighbors and energetic children!
I am Ms. Siu Lo and my husband Karl helps me with managing our academic services business, Bright Choice.
My core values as an educator are to instill and nurture the love of learning, self-discovery, and empowerment through academically proven methods and creative outlets across multiple disciplines and intelligences.
More about Ms. Siu Lo and how she came to tutoring
I've had a great passion for learning and sharing learning moments for as long as I can remember. I have always been zealous to learn new vocabulary, anything STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), anything new and different that highlights the potential of the human mind and body. My first involvement with organized volunteer work was through the YMCA of Greater New York, where I stayed at the Homework Help center after school to sit with students who needed encouragement or review with academic subjects, very often with English as their Second Language (ESL). I absolutely enjoy sharing the feeling of "getting it" and becoming equipped with new skills.
When I moved upstate to begin college, I knew that I wanted to continue this wonderful experience of contributing to the community by working with students. I luckily found a position working with the ESL program at the local high school. Between and after my own college classes, I sat with students in science, math, and history classes and helped them with homework after school.
After graduating with my Bachelor's in Sociology, I returned to NYC where I was born and raised and decided that I wanted to really make a go with it. Through the NYC Department of Education Bilingual Pupil Services Program, I served as a teacher intern at an elementary school in Chinatown while pursuing my Master's in TESOL (Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages). I greatly enjoyed working with children newly immigrated to the United States just as my parents did decades ago, but I wanted to contribute even more to the local community. I qualified and trained to work as a PSAT/SAT instructor for a leading test prep company. In addition to private classes, I chose to teach as many classes as possible for a foundation that supports bright youth from lower income households, regardless of needing to travel to Brooklyn or the Bronx.
I took a few years off from public school education and switched over to technical instruction as I worked in non-profit accounting at a local community center. I happily had the opportunity to continue to empower others with the skills and confidence to take ownership of tasks and methods they previously found daunting and intimidating.
When my family moved across the river, I decided that I wanted to revisit my joy of working with eager minds. I obtained my Substitute Teacher license for South Orange Maplewood School District and am looking forward to serving Jefferson Elementary, Maplewood Middle, and Columbia High.
By meeting members of the SOMa community, I learned more about the curriculum, pace, and challenges of studying in the area. I am here to offer my ability to tune in to student performance, work with students to review challenging concepts, practice skills, engage in critical thinking, and to prepare them to enjoy and excel in college.
We look forward to meeting more of you and learning how we can work together to empower our youth!