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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. 

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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. 

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 11 • (he/him)

(A) Aakash

Aakash Jha

Founder & Co-President

Grade 11 • (he/him)

Instruction Team

(I) Larry

Larry Huang

Instruction Manager

Grade 11 • (he/him)

IMG_9051 - Natalia Bieszczad.jpeg

Natalia Bieszczad

Instructor

Grade 11 • (she/her)

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Emma Bream

Instructor

Grade 10 • (she/her)

(I) Adriana

Adriana Buvac-Drndic

Instructor

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(I) Denny

Denny Cao

Instructor

Grade 12 • (he/him)

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Angel Chen

Instructor

Grade 9 • (she/her)

(I) Kathy
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Michael Huang

Instructor

Grade 10 • (he/him)

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Niara Hughes

Competition Moderator

Grade 11 • (she/they)

I Kezia.heic

Kezia Lay

Instructor

Grade 10 • (she/her)

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Abby Li

Instructor

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(I) Kathy

Kathy Luu

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(I) Yehuda

Yehuda Mahlab

Instructor

Grade 11 • (he/him)

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Kaya Perelman

Instructor

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(I) Aiden

Aiden Sanxhaku

Instructor

Grade 10 • (he/him)

(I) Vivian

Vivian Truong

Instructor

Grade 12 • (she/her)

(I) Leonard

Leonard Vekker

Instructor

Grade 10 • (he/him)

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Alan Yunusov

Instructor

Grade 9 • (he/him)

Curriculum Team

(C) Luke

Luke Neale

Curriculum Co-Manager

Grade 12 • (he/him)

(C) Arjun

Arjun Ahya

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Aryan

Aryan Patel

Curriculum Co-Manager

Grade 11 • (he/him)

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Lynsay Bennett

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(C) Josh

Josh Smullens

Curriculum Co-Manager

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Jonnah

Jonnah Berger

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Chris

Chris Ji

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Adib

Adib Khandaker

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Eric

Eric Li

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Justin

Justin Liu

Curriculum Developer

Grade 11 • (he/him)

(C) Ryan Zou

Ryan Zou

Curriculum Developer

Grade 10 • (he/him)

Competition Moderation Team

(CM) Anya

Anya Finlay

Competition Moderation Manager

Grade 11 • (she/her)

CM Hope.jpg

Hope Applegate

Competition Moderator

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(CM) Gabe

Gabriel Crothall

Competition Moderator

Grade 11 • (he/him)

CM Catherine

Catherine Jonathan

Competition Moderator

Grade 10

CM Kristina.JPG

Kristina Kitsul

Competition Moderator

Grade 11 • (she/her)

CM Angela.png

Angela Lin

Competition Moderator 

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(CM) Gabe
M Aiko.JPG

Aiko Palaypayon

Competition Moderator

Grade 12 • (she/her)

Marketing Team

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(M) Nic

Queena Chen

Nicolas Dorazio

Marketing Co-Manager 

Grade 11 • (she/her)

Marketing Co-Manager

Grade 11 • (they/them)

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Katrina Chen

Lead Mandarin Translator

Grade 11 • (she/her)

(M) Ciaran

Ciaran Yudiono

Marketing Associate 

Grade 10 • (he/him)

(M) Rochelle

Rochelle Meneses-Nieto

Marketing Associate

Grade 10 • (she/her)

(M) Rosalie

Rosalie Kraines

Marketing Associate

Grade 11 • (she/her)

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