Teacher – Patrick Clark
I am very proud of accomplishments achieved by two of my most recent students: S. Y. in Cupertino and N. L. in Palo Alto.
S. Y. is an astonishingly bright and gifted writer, but even I was a little surprised when she scored 2400 on her Test E diagnostic exam! On her previous diagnostic exam (Test A), she scored 2200: Critical Reading 710, Writing 740 (Essay 9/12), and Math 750. Her critical reading went up 90 points, her writing 60, her essay 3, and her math 50 for a total improvement of 200 points! I really admire S. Y.’s work ethic and dedication, and I have no doubt she will ace the actual SAT!
N. L. is a student that proves that students with a long road can also improve. N. L. and I butted heads more than once, and I don’t doubt he was pretty sick of me at times–I often had to push pretty firmly to get him to budge. I was frustrated at my inability to get through to him, and to get him to change his habits. I admit I was tempted to give up on him, but I didn’t give up, and neither did N. L. He is now attending UCLA, and is well on his way to future success. After all the headaches he and I caused each other, I can think of no better reward than his words, “Hi Patrick, I wanna thank for the help you gave me for the summer, I got an A- for the class. I would like to keep working with you in the fall quarter if you don’t mind. Best, N. L.”
Former Client – Natasha Nguyen
From: Natasha Nguyen
Date: Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 3:30 PM
Subject: Former Client (forward to Steven Ma)
To: emarketing@ttlearning.com
Dear Steven,
I just wanted to email you and congratulate you and the Think Tank team for the article in Businessweek. I was a former client in 2008 in the Cupertino office, and though it did not work out with my target colleges (UCLA, UC Berkeley), the counseling experience gave me the confidence in myself to apply and gain admission to UC Berkeley as a transfer student after sophomore year at UC San Diego. I am now on my way to the London School of Economics for a master’s program.
Wishing you and the team continued success!
Best,
Natasha
Teacher – Peter Alexander
In addition to my main responsibilities as Chief Instructor, my passion for TTL’s vision has led me to expand my role into marketing as well. As an instructor, I had the opportunity to host two local seminars and was able to introduce TTL’s mission to American publisher Steven Forbes, at an event hosted by the radio stations KFAX and KDOW. Thereafter, I was invited to join the marketing team as Regional Marketing Specialist for the Palo Alto and San Mateo regions. Presently, I represent TTL regularly at Palo Alto High, and as of this moment, I am in negotiations to feature TTL as sponsor and judge for Burlingame High’s debate team. And this is just the beginning! Optimizing my dual role as content developer and Marketing Specialist, I hope to saturate the Bay Area with internship opportunities for qualified high school students, designed to introduce TTL as a leading pioneer of open-source, cloud computing solutions to the challenges of online education.
Consultant – Matt Andrews
Peter Alexander and Matt Andrews have strengthened TTL relationships with high schools in Palo Alto, Cupertino, and Los Altos. Peter is on campus to tutor students for 2 hours after school. Matt visits campus to conduct seminars for students during college and career days. TTL sponsors events, newspapers, and extra-curricular activities at the local high schools. Send Peter and Matt an email if you have ideas to support student learning in the community.
Consultant – Lauren John
I am studying for a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) through the UC Santa Cruz Extension Program. The classes are offered online and in person at the Santa Clara center — you do not have to travel all the way to Santa Cruz to take this program.
For more information, contact me at lauren.john@ttlearning.com or check it out here
Two of my Palo Alto students “graduated” from the English Language Learning program and entered into the mainstream curriculum this year.
In a letter to one of the parents, the ESL coordinator mentioned me by name and encouraged the student to keep working with me as he faces the challenges of a mainstream language curriculum!
Consultant – Annette Hu
Annette has been working very closely with her students in Fremont to create the SAVE (Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments) Youth Club where members get to receive training from a SAVE staff to learn about the organization’s history, their services, and gain a better understanding of what constitutes unhealthy relationships. Annette got started with this idea due to her passion in teaching young people to recognize signs of unhealthy relationships and how to protect themselves against abuse. One of the groups greatest accomplishments was putting together the 2013 benefit concert in which they raised over $650 worth of funding towards their cause. Among the leaders of SAVE, are our TTL students Ben Lin (Founding President) who is going to UCLA, Julia Chow (Founding VP) who is going to UCB, Kendra Tran (Committee /Chair) who is going to UCB and Sarah Wang (Student Leader) who is also going to UCB. Both Ben and Julie wrote one of their UC essays about founding the club and they both were nominated for Achievement Scholarship and Leadership Scholarship by UCLA and UCB respectively. Please feel free to visit their facebook page and help to spread the awareness of Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments, thank you!
Consultant of the Month – Jon Siapno
As a senior, exceptional consultant, Jon not only has provided the best-quality consulting service to students and parents, but has made tremendous contributions to the company in multiple areas. During the most recent corporate seminars, his extraordinary presentations greatly inspired the audience and received an enormous outpouring of positive feedback. –Amy Meng, COM
Teacher of the Month – Stephen Horabin
Stephen constantly goes above and beyond for the Millbrae Center. He has assisted the center management in managing and mentoring instructors, has taken a lead in curriculum development, has taken then lead in implementing 3 on 1 tutoring at Millbrae Center, and has provided priceless insight and suggestions on ongoing curriculum development projects as well as new hire training. Stephen constantly goes above and beyond his established duties to help TTL and his fellow employees grow; his work on all fronts is truly appreciated.
Halloween Contest:
Twitter & Instagram Rules:
• Take a photo of a cool Halloween decoration
• Must use hashtag: #TTLHalloween
• Must follow us on Twitter or Instagram
• Depending on the top 3 re-tweets or hearts,
1st place $50
2nd place $25
3rd place $10
• Last day for photo submission is on November 2 (midnight)
• Top 3 winners will be announced on November 8 on the company website www.ttlearning.com
Keep your eyes opened for any cool Halloween decorations.
Facebook Rules
Consultant – Valerie Zhang
This past year one of my students made the difficult decision to attend UCLA over UC Berkeley, one of my favorite schools. If you think she was lucky, consider her situation two years ago. At that time, she was making the very difficult decision to withdraw from UC Merced. Even though she had worked very hard to get into a UC, UC Merced was not where she had envisioned her future to be. Therefore, she decided to risk withdrawing from UC Merced and work with me on applying to colleges as a transfer student; with the results being much more favorable this time around. It’s not so much the difference between UCLA and UC Merced which was important to her, but the process of giving herself another chance and proving to herself that she can accomplish her dreams. The experience of overcoming her fears and trying things all over again has made her the brave and determined person she is today.
Monthly Lucky Employee Draw – $25 Starbucks Gift Card
October 2014 Employee Winner: Jimmy Chen
To claim your Gift Card, please an email to emarketing@ttlearning.com. On the headline please indicate the keywords: “I’m the Lucky Employee!” and state your name in the body.
Stay tuned for the next lucky winner! It could be you!