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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. 

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. 

Education Books Bookshelves

Meet Our Team

Root2Success is accepting applications from ALL high school students in Philadelphia.

Administration

(A) Tino

Tino Karakousis

Founder & Co-President 

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(A) Aakash

Aakash Jha

Founder & Co-President

Grade 12 • (he/him)

Instruction Team

(I) Larry

Larry Huang

Instruction Manager

Grade 12 • (he/him)

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Natalia Bieszczad

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(I) Adriana

Adriana Buvac-Drndic

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/her)

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Angel Chen

Instructor

Grade 10 • (she/her)

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Michael Huang

Instructor

Grade 11 • (he/him)

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Niara Hughes

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/they)

I Kezia.heic

Kezia Lay

Instructor

Grade 11 • (she/her)

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Abby Li

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(I) Yehuda

Yehuda Mahlab

Instructor

Grade 12 • (he/him)

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Kaya Perelman

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(I) Aiden

Aiden Sanxhaku

Instructor

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(I) Leonard

Leonard Vekker

Instructor

Grade 11 • (he/him)

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Emma Bream

Instructor

Grade 11 • (she/her)

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Alan Yunusov

Instructor

Grade 10 • (he/him)

Curriculum Team

(C) Aryan

Aryan Patel

Curriculum Manager

Grade 12 • (he/him)

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Lynsay Bennett

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(C) Adib

Adib Khandaker

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Josh

Josh Smullens

Curriculum Manager

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Jonnah

Jonnah Berger

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Eric

Eric Li

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Arjun

Arjun Ahya

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Chris

Chris Ji

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (he/him)

CM Justin

Justin Liu

Curriculum Developer

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Ryan Zou

Ryan Zou

Curriculum Developer

Grade 10 • (he/him)

Competition Team

(CM) Anya

Anya Finlay

Competition Manager

Grade 12 • (she/her)

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Hope Applegate

Competition Moderator

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(CM) Gabe

Gabriel Crothall

Competition Moderator

Grade 12 • (he/him)

CM Catherine

Catherine Jonathan

Competition Moderator

Grade 11

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Kristina Kitsul

Competition Moderator

Grade 12 • (she/her)

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Angela Lin

Competition Moderator 

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(CM) Gabe
M Aiko.JPG

Aiko Palaypayon

Competition Moderator

Undergraduate • (she/her)

Marketing Team

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Queena Chen

Marketing Manager 

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(M) Nic

Nicolas Dorazio

Marketing Manager

Grade 12

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Katrina Chen

Lead Mandarin Translator

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(M) Rosalie

Rosalie Kraines

Marketing Associate

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(M) Rochelle

Rochelle Meneses-Nieto

Marketing Associate

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(M) Ciaran

Ciaran Yudiono

Marketing Associate 

Grade 11 • (he/him)

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