Root2Success is hosting an in-person event this May. Check out the Events page for more details.
About Us
Root2Success was founded in February 2022 by aspiring mathematicians Aakash Jha and Tino Karakousis with the intent to spread the joy of mathematics. Asan enrichment program, Root2Success hosts after-school sessions open to all fifth to eighth-grade students attending a Philadelphia public or charter school. Students are taught by high school instructors using a curriculum developed entirely by high school students.
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Mathematics is often seen as a challenging subject by students. Students tend to come out of school with an understanding of how to solve a problem, though not why it works or how it has an effect on their life. At Root2Success, we aim to give students a different outlook on math and teach them its practicality in everyday life. We strongly believe that success in mathematics is not determined by one's aptitude, but rather their will to put in hard work. Over the course of our program, students will learn how to work through problems in groups and how to utilize the strength of others and pool skills together to overcome challenges.

Administration
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Tino Karakousis
Founder & Co-President
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Aakash Jha
Founder & Co-President
Grade 11 • (he/him)
Instruction Team
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Larry Huang
Instruction Manager
Grade 11 • (he/him)

Natalia Bieszczad
Instructor
Grade 11 • (she/her)

Emma Bream
Instructor
Grade 10 • (she/her)
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Adriana Buvac-Drndic
Instructor
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Denny Cao
Instructor
Grade 12 • (he/him)

Angel Chen
Instructor
Grade 9 • (she/her)
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Michael Huang
Instructor
Grade 10 • (he/him)

Niara Hughes
Competition Moderator
Grade 11 • (she/they)

Kezia Lay
Instructor
Grade 10 • (she/her)

Abby Li
Instructor
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Kathy Luu
Instructor
Grade 12 • (she/her)
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Yehuda Mahlab
Instructor
Grade 11 • (he/him)

Kaya Perelman
Instructor
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Aiden Sanxhaku
Instructor
Grade 10 • (he/him)
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Vivian Truong
Instructor
Grade 12 • (she/her)
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Leonard Vekker
Instructor
Grade 10 • (he/him)

Alan Yunusov
Instructor
Grade 9 • (he/him)
Curriculum Team
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Luke Neale
Curriculum Co-Manager
Grade 12 • (he/him)
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Arjun Ahya
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Aryan Patel
Curriculum Co-Manager
Grade 11 • (he/him)

Lynsay Bennett
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Josh Smullens
Curriculum Co-Manager
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Jonnah Berger
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Chris Ji
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Adib Khandaker
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Eric Li
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Justin Liu
Curriculum Developer
Grade 11 • (he/him)
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Ryan Zou
Curriculum Developer
Grade 10 • (he/him)
Competition Moderation Team
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Anya Finlay
Competition Moderation Manager
Grade 11 • (she/her)

Hope Applegate
Competition Moderator
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Gabriel Crothall
Competition Moderator
Grade 11 • (he/him)

Catherine Jonathan
Competition Moderator
Grade 10

Kristina Kitsul
Competition Moderator
Grade 11 • (she/her)

Angela Lin
Competition Moderator
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Aiko Palaypayon
Competition Moderator
Grade 12 • (she/her)
Marketing Team

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Queena Chen
Nicolas Dorazio
Marketing Co-Manager
Grade 11 • (she/her)
Marketing Co-Manager
Grade 11 • (they/them)

Katrina Chen
Lead Mandarin Translator
Grade 11 • (she/her)
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Ciaran Yudiono
Marketing Associate
Grade 10 • (he/him)
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Rochelle Meneses-Nieto
Marketing Associate
Grade 10 • (she/her)
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Rosalie Kraines
Marketing Associate
Grade 11 • (she/her)