Staff Profile
Summer 1996
Girls to the Fourth Power
701 Welch Road, Suite #1120
Palo Alto, CA 94304
Staff Profile
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Students (of all ages) learn most
effectively when they have clear motivations and can see
meaningful application of the subject matter. Middle school and
high school students in particular benefit from having adult role
models whom they respect. Therefore, essential and unique
components of a successful tutoring school would be internships
and field trips which provide students with practical experience,
adult role models, and direct understanding of the application of
the subject being taught.
Sarah Fleisher Trainor is our program director. A Phi Beta
Kappa alum of Mount Holyoke College, Sarah has taught middle
school algebra and science at Denver's Colorado Academy. She also
developed the high school wilderness pursuits program at Colorado
Academy in conjunction with the Colorado Outward Bound School.
Sarah has also worked as wilderness ranger for the U.S. Forest
Service, preschool teacher, and research assistant for a
consulting engineer.
Think algebraically and the world will be yours! Believe it or not, algebra is an important skill for getting by in life! I am motivated by my belief that each and every student is capable of success. I aim to help the students I work with see and achieve their full potential.
Lexy Kleeman-Keller is a mentor and tutor for our program
this summer. She will be a a junior at Stanford in the fall and
plans to major in psychology with a certificate in Children and
Society. She is an alum of Hillview Middle School and
Menlo-Atherton High School and has been tutoring students from
the Palo Alto / Menlo Park / Atherton area in algebra, French,
social studies, English and science for the past six years. She
also teaches a back-to-school study skills class for middle
school and high school students at the end of each summer.
Do you quit the tutoring program when
your kid's grades improve enough? and then do you have to repeat
the process the next year? and the year after? What if your kid's
tutoring is more of a one-to-many situation where the taught
material does not necessarily coincide with the assignments from
regular school? What if the tutoring program uses real world
examples and computer programs to change how your kid feels about
math in general? What if the tutoring program addresses the long
term solution of math comprehension instead of the short term
solution of improved grades?
Stephanie King will teach a seminar experience on
earthquake engineering for our program this summer. She is an
internationally recognized expert on geographic information
systems, holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in Earthquake Engineering,
and teaches at Stanford. Stephanie was the captain of the Arizona
State woman's basketball team in 1990.
Cindy is our academic consultant. She is a math and
computer science teacher at Menlo-Atherton High School and was a
mentor teacher this past year. Cindy graduated from U.C. Berkeley
with a degree in math and has been an intern for two summers at
NASA-Ames.
Way back in 1962, I remember a rather
stuffy, humorless, old man, arriving at my house two times each
week to tutor me away from a C- in Algebra. Although he managed
to raise my grade to a respectable level, the material left my
mind as soon as June 15th rolled around and school was out for
the summer. Since then, I have come to the conclusion that every
woman I know who knows algebra turns out to be an accomplished
and self-confident woman - whether she is a full time mom, or a
business dynamo. I believe this program will do more than teach
skills, it will encourage confidence and security.
Ruth Meehan is our program administrator and a long-term Menlo
Park Mom of Kevin (St. Joseph's) and Emily (Menlo-Atherton).
(From left to right.) Sarah Trainor,
Dick Meehan, Monikka Mann-Prier, Lauren Jelks.
This page last updated:1/9/98