Jonathan Mason

I am passionate about tutoring because I believe in the transformative power of education. My educational philosophy is rooted in the belief that everyone should have access to a quality education, and I enjoy supporting students through all aspects of their educational careers, from their academics to standardized testing.

I was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and lived there for eighteen years before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I received a full tuition academic scholarship to Temple University, where I studied Spanish language, literature, and linguistics in the Honors College. During my studies at Temple University, I had the opportunity to spend six months at the University of Oviedo in Spain while living with a local host family. I have since graduated with my master’s degree in education with an emphasis in social-emotional learning from National University, and I am currently pursuing my teaching credential from the state of California, which prepares and authorizes me to teach math, reading, and writing from grades K-8.

My interest in working in education was initially sparked when I volunteered as an adult mentor at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Philadelphia. Over the course of three years, I worked closely with two sixth grade boys and supported them with their schoolwork and social-emotional needs. Since then, in addition to completing my master’s in education, I have two years of experience working as a 6th and 7th grade Spanish language arts and history teacher at a local dual immersion school in San Jose, California. I am also a Teach for America alumni, and I worked for two years to confront educational inequity head-on. In both of these experiences, I worked closely with instructional coaches who helped me develop my craft as an educator.

I have always had a passion for the humanities and foreign languages, and I appreciate the ways that they provide a unique way of seeing the world. However, my rigorous charter high school left me with a strong background in STEM, and I enjoy helping students across the curriculum. In high school, my high SAT/ACT scores played a big role in earning me my full tuition scholarship, so I am excited to help students open up possibilities through mastery of these exams. I also believe that time management and organization skills are essential to success throughout life, and I work to help students better these skills throughout our time together.

As a teacher, I value the importance of building relationships when working with students and families. I work to foster a positive learning environment while holding students and their work to high standards. I believe that this philosophy combines relationship-building and accountability in order to maximize personal and academic success.

In my free time, I like to stay active by hiking, swimming, and biking, and I am also passionate about cooking and discovering new music.