Anna-Blanca Leake

After four years at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where I experienced real seasons and graduated with a BA in English, I returned home to the Bay Area. I was eager to share my passion for learning, so I turned my attention to tutoring Spanish and English to high school students.

I thank my father for my love of English. From childhood, he has sharpened my eye and ear to detect quality writing. However, as a high school student, I frequently experienced writer’s block, indecision, and insecurity over my writing. This changed in college when I began taking writing intensive classes in various disciplines and began editing the theater and film scripts my friends had written. Learning to write in many styles—creative, analytical, and persuasive—and learning to edit cleanly helped me gain confidence and blossom as a writer. I enjoy helping my students develop this same confidence and clarity in the writing process. 

As a Spanish tutor, I enjoy the opportunity to share something that has always been a part of my life and identity. My grandmother is from México, and during elementary school, I attended a Spanish immersion program at Castro School in Mountain View. I have many fond memories, including dancing baile folklórico and eating conchas pastries in the afternoons. When I moved to the Menlo Park school district, I continued my Spanish language practice through classes and tutoring. In college, I lived abroad with a host family for half a year in Córdoba, Spain, taking upper level literature and politics classes with native speakers at the University of Córdoba. While abroad, I volunteered at the Red Cross as a Spanish and English teacher’s assistant for recent immigrants and interned as an archaeological excavator at the Mezquita-Cathedral UNESCO World Heritage Site.

My tutoring approach is based on collaborative problem-solving. If there are difficult concepts or skills to be mastered, I work with students to create solutions together. I aim for students to take charge of their learning, because I believe this helps them develop confidence in their abilities. I want to empower students to be introspective and think for themselves by teaching them to identify what they think they need to succeed and what academic approaches and tools work best for them.