Instructors

For 20 years, Jennifer has been teaching children, teenagers and adults a variety of subjects in diverse settings. The constant in each of these experiences has been the story that each life, each event, weaves into the pattern of human history. She and her husband began the work of home-educating their children seven years ago during a research sabbatical in Cambridge, England. In 2008 they moved to Worcester and were introduced to the Think Tank just as it was getting started. Jennifer has been teaching history there since 2010. She draws upon her degrees in English Literature and in Theology, as well as her experience as a writer and storyteller, to make connections between the past and the present, and between every person’s reason and imagination. These themes are carried into the rhythms of daily life with a family. When she’s not at the Think Tank you will find her (usually in the company of at least one or two children) somewhere between her kitchen and the garden.

Moleka Calandra is a graduate of  Rensselear Polytechnic Institute and holds a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering.  In addition, she holds a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and a Masters in Engineering Management from Long Island University.  Currently, Moleka is a mathematics teacher at Grafton High School and is certified in special education.  Moleka is a married, mother of three and has been a resident of Massachusetts for the past 8 years.

Moleka is a math tutor and is available by appointment on: Mondays 5:00-7:00pm, and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4:00-6:00pm. 

Oleg Maksimov was born in Moscow, Russia, and moved to the United States in 1995. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the City University of New York in February 2002. He then worked as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Department of Physics and as a Research Associate in the Materials Research Institute at Pennsylvania State University. In addition, Dr. Maksimov holds an M. Ph. and a B.S. in Chemistry, both from the City University of New York.

Dr. Maksimov is an author and a co-author of more than 60 articles published in peer-reviewed journals, an active member of the American Physical Society, and an editorial board member for Scientific Journals International. He serves as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals, including Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, Materials Chemistry and Physics, and Thin Solid Films, as a proposal reviewer for Research Foundation of City University of New York, and as a program evaluator for American Council of Education. In addition, he teaches General Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Toxicology courses for South University Online and American College of Healthcare Sciences.

Oleg will be assisiting with Think Tank's Glassworks lab and Chemistry in Context class.

Olga Yazlovitsky has a background in Classical and Slavic studies abroad. She has also worked as an interpreter and translator from Hungarian to Russian and has experience as a Russian tutor. In the United States, Olga graduated from the Respiratory Care program at QCC, and currently works as a respiratory therapist at the UMass Memorial hospital. Olga equally enjoys work and play; her interests include science, art, music, and theater. She loves to learn and share her knowledge, and believes that key to successful learning lies in creativity and attentiveness of a teacher to students' individuality. Olga Yazlovitsky is a homeschooling mom and she and her daughter have been a part of the Think Tank community since 2009. 

 

Mohamed was born in a village in Guinea, West Africa into the Camara family, which is known for its traditional African drumming and dancing. He began his career in the Gambia where he started his own dancing and drumming group. He is the former artistic director of the African Ballet of Gambia. Mohamed has traveled extensively through Africa, Europe, and the United States performing and teaching his art. Mohamed served as lead teacher for Chuck Davis's cultural art safari, which is held every summer in the Gambia. Students interested in learning African drum and dance attend from all over the United State and Europe. Mohamed continues to teach dancing and drumming all over New England in school systems and at various Universities. He is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music. He is excited to be back at Think Tank to run West African Drumming for a second time.

James Kidd is a Doctor of Pharmacy candidate at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Worcester, which runs a service learning program that originally brought him to Think Tank as a volunteer! For his volunteer work, he began assisting with and occasionally leading Think Tank's Debate and Rhetoric class. When the opportunity to take over teaching the class presented itself, James eagerly joined the Think Tank staff. James holds an ALB cum laude in chemistry from Harvard University Extension School with a minor in mathematics. As an undergraduate, he performed research in organic chemistry and synthetic biology in the lab of Harvard Medical School professor George Church and spent a year as a special student of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He is currently researching the targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs using modified liposomes (hollow microscopic spheres of fat molecules that can carry drugs) and aspires to earn board certification in oncology pharmacy. His other research interests include polyketide synthesis and biosynthesis (how a class of complex small molecules that gives us many drug compounds are made in the lab and in nature) and educational methodologies including integrative science/math education (covering many disciplines in one class rather than having discrete classes for each subject). 

James's research background informs his belief that the most enduring learning comes from working on projects, a philosophy he weaves into his teaching and his life. He wears many hats: being a pharmacy student, an educator, and even working as a software QA specialist. In what little free time he has, James enjoys mountain biking, hiking, outdoor exploration, board games, and cooking. He is available to tutor in math, chemistry, biology, and other sciences by appointment, and is available to mentor students who wish to pursue a college education in the STEM fields. He is also interested in developing future science/math classes at Think Tank based on student needs and interests.

Michelle was born in Worcester, MA and raised in neighboring Shrewsbury. She led a colorful college career, attending a multitude of great schools and taking a year off between transferring from Hampshire College to a small liberal arts college in rural Illinois, Knox College. Michelle received her BA in Creative Writing from Knox where she also studied anthropology, sociology, education, philosophy, and environmental studies, and she organized, farmed, and lived in the community. Her greatest experience, though, was teaching a creative writing workshop for a year at an alternative school for at-risk youth. Now, whilst fervently missing the Midwest’s fields and trains, but glad to return to her homeland, Michelle is tutoring students one-on-one in creative writing. Also of significance: Michelle immensely enjoys cats, dogs, photography, hula hooping, and Billie Holiday. She could not be happier to join Think Tank, a school that represents her ideals of creativity and cooperative learning.

 

Steve earned his Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Biology from the University of Richmond, and is currently a Doctor of Pharmacy candidate at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences-Worcester. During his undergraduate years he worked on several projects aimed at illuminating previously unknown pathways of the neuro-degenerative Machado-Joseph disease. Much of his work involved using the fruit fly Drosophila as a model organism. As a teaching assistant at the University of Richmond he taught undergraduate students in introductory biology courses as well as advanced neurology courses. At MCPHS, he is currently beginning research work that aims to improve chemotherapy drug targeting to traditionally evasive forms of cancer. He enjoys the opportunities that lab research provides to travel around the country presenting research and attending conferences.

 Outside of the lab Steve was previously a lifeguard, swim teacher and is still a certified EMT in Virginia. His background in Spanish allowed him to travel to Peru as part of a group that provided basic medicine, supplies, and preventative health care to the village of Pampas Grande. Steve appreciates how these experiences have provided him the patient advocacy and personal interaction that lab research is less able to. Steve was introduced to Think Tank in the fall of 2012 through the Service Learning program at MCPHS. He is excited to continue working with Think Tank to design and teach science classes with a hands-on lab and research component. He believes developing a proper foundation in science requires introducing students to the lab techniques and considerations needed for experimental design. With this foundation students can apply this line of thinking and questioning universally in a variety of subject matter.

Brett Duncan is a native of Massachusetts and graduate of Assumption College in Worcester, MA with a Bachelors in History, and Fitchburg State University with a Masters in Education. He has been a middle school social studies teacher for 10 year and currently teaches at Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham, MA. Many hands on activities and simulations have highlighted his years of teaching such as mock elections, Supreme Court simulations, modern and ancient world fairs, mummification labs, pyramid building, archaeological digs, Greek myth plays, and various other interactive activities. He has traveled extensively to enrich his ability to deliver the highest quality education to his students. In 2009 he visited Egypt along with 10 other educators through a Harvard University Program. That summer he also traveled to South Korea and Japan with the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. Both programs were highly selective and served as capstones to year long courses required to be eligible. In addition, he has traveled to France, Switzerland, the Caribbean, Canada, and the Western US. He continues to participate in curriculum workshops, grant writing, committee work, student groups, and professional development. Recently, he was certified as a mentor to other educators in the school district.

When Brett is not working at school he is busy serving his town as a call/per diem Firefighter/EMT-B with the Westminster Fire Department. For the past 9 years he has served in this capacity, often working overnight shifts and then going directly to school the next morning. He wants to instill in his students a sense of citizenship and commitment in addition to succeeding academically in school.

To relax he enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing golf, skiing, woodworking, traveling, and staying active outdoors (hiking, biking, kayaking, etc). He hopes that participants in his courses will both learn a great deal about the subject as well as gain a greater appreciation of its role in our past and future.