PRESIDENT

William has an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, a BS in Psychology & a BS in Philosophy from the University of Utah, and has studied linguistics at La Sorbonne in Paris. He likes spending time with his family, traveling, language, culture, food, and snowboarding . William believes that an entertained class will learn better and so focuses on engaging students in a relatable way. His next projects include freestyle rapping, drawing, and trying to dunk a basketball.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Eric graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Anthropology. He claims he arrived in Utah by car (although legend has it he arrived by bear) and currently enjoys snowboarding, backpacking and volleyball. Eric has spent time teaching youth in wilderness therapy and experiential learning environments. He believes that making the interaction between student and tutor lively and interesting is paramount to a successful learning experience; Eric adds that “results will come naturally if the student enjoys the process.”

MANAGING DIRECTOR

As a wee lad, Jason watched "The Blizzard of Aahhh's" and vowed to move West and ride Snowbird's tram at least once. En route, Jason earned a BA in Philosophy from Brown University (with a heavy side emphasis on music and art). He gleaned a lot of inspiration from some amazing professors who were skilled communicators that fostered real relationships with students. He believes that establishing a relationship with trust and respect is key to any student-tutor learning process. When not teaching, Jason enjoys writing music, backpacking, skiing, running chainsaws, and spending time with his partner, daughter, and two dogs.

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Kelsie has moved around the past few years and has been able to see some amazing places, including living near the pacific coast (twice!) and the base of the Sawtooth mountains. These moves created a love of exploration, and now yearly excursions take place: by plane, train, or automobile! Kelsie graduated from Westminster College with a BA in Economics and a Minor in Film Studies, and she hopes to one day run a nonprofit. When Kelsie is not working, she enjoys hanging out with her dog Archie and exploring the mountains.

INTERNATIONAL SAT

Gwendolyn may have been raised in a small community along the Missouri River, but her desire to travel the world was ignited at the age of seven. After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Public Relations, she set off for a three month back-packing tour of Europe, before settling in England. Based in London, she became the Vice President of Marketing Communications at one of the world’s top investment banks. However, after 14 years in the corporate world, Gwendolyn decided on a career change to teach English as a Second Language, before landing with Higher Ground Learning where she focuses on the SAT and ACT. When she is not teaching her international students - whom she calls her ‘kids’ - she can be found scouring her current home city for the best craft coffee.

SAT/ACT, MATH, SPANISH

Kevin graduated from Duke University with Bachelor's Degrees in Statistical Sciences and Economics. In high school, Kevin co-founded and taught at Engineering Change, an interactive math and science camp geared towards low-income middle school students. In addition to math and science, Kevin has extensively studied Spanish, including spending a semester abroad in Madrid in college and completing service projects in Mexico and South America with a focus on language immersion. As a skiing fanatic, Kevin is excited to explore the wonderful outdoors of Utah. He also enjoys performing and enjoying music, playing the piano, drums, and guitar.

CALCULUS, PHYSICS, COMPUTER SCIENCE, STATS, SAT/ACT

Rebecca grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Computer Science. During her time at Penn, she was a peer tutor and spent two summers teaching at a girls' school in Rwanda. After graduation, she worked as a software engineer at Google in San Francisco. Since then, she has hiked two long trails, moved to Utah for the mountains, and has enjoyed learning new hobbies – including trail running, nordic skiing, and sewing and mending!

INTERNATIONAL SAT, MATH

Alexa graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude with a degree in economics and political science. She is currently pursuing a masters at the University of Oxford. Alexa developed a love for teaching in 2017 as the founder and director of a volunteer, peer-to-peer math tutoring service across her school district. While at Harvard, she created a freshman pre-orientation program called the “Leadership Institute”. A week-long leadership course that helps transition incoming students to the demands of undergraduate life. The oldest child (of four) in her family, Alexa had to navigate the college admissions process by herself. She is passionate about easing this burden for families. You can find Alexa hiking, running, or singing in the Oxford’s College Choir.

Ashley earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Psychology from Duke University. After graduation in 2020, she moved to Salt Lake City for medical school at the University of Utah and will be graduating with her M.D. this May. Ashley’s passion for learning (23 years of school later!) has sparked her enthusiasm to foster enjoyable learning experiences for others. She first became a tutor as a sophomore in high school and has continued to tutor students of all ages and subjects ever since. Throughout her academic journey, Ashley has balanced her studies with a love for traveling, hiking, waterskiing, and playing pickleball.

Julia has her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She has recently made the move to Utah to be near the mountains and to add to her list of places lived which include Georgia, California, Florida, and now Utah! During her time at USF, Julia tutored many students and found it to be one of the highlights of her college experience. She enjoys being the person that is dedicated to a student’s success because knowing you have someone in your corner is half the battle. In her free time Julia enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing, ballet, yoga, and pickleball.

Since graduating from Long Beach State with a BA in Psychology, Austin has been learning to enjoy the cold and snow here in Utah. With a background in reading and writing education and a passion for strengthening one’s study-skills toolbox, he strives to uplift students as they work towards their goals. Hiking nearby mountains and attending niche community events fill most of his time, and he is always looking for recommendations on a good book.

INTERNATIONAL TEST PREP, CALCULUS, SAT/ACT

Charlotte has a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. As a prior Navy pilot, Charlotte has always craved adventure. Charlotte's time in the military landed her in a quaint corner of the country known as Whidbey Island, Washington, where she enjoys hiking, bouldering, and spotting orca whales. Charlotte's experience as a flight instructor inspired her to pursue more opportunities to teach. Her goal is to help students experience learning as an adventure rather than a chore. If you aren't having fun, you aren't doing it right!

SPANISH, FRENCH, GERMAN

Janet is a real language lover who graduated from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Colombia with a degree in modern languages (Spanish, English and French). She enjoys teaching and firmly believes that language is a powerful tool that unifies people and allows them to take action in the world. Born in a small town called Chía, next to the capital of Colombia, Janet became delighted with language learning when she strongly longed for understanding the English lyrics of the songs of her favorite bands (in fact, she admits that those bands were her first actual English teachers). That was the beginning of a wonderful journey that hasn’t stopped yet and has led her to explore, learn and discover the world of English, French and German. When Janet is not tutoring, she can be found watching astronomy documentaries (one of her greatest passions), spending time with her two adorable cats, or working out at the gym.

SAT/ACT, MATH, SCIENCE

Kaile grew up on the beautiful lakes of northwest lower Michigan and graduated with a degree in biological sciences from Michigan Technological University. Since graduation, she has followed the snow, living in Oregon, Colorado, and Utah; her love for biology is second only to her love for skiing. She spends her time chasing that perfect ski turn, tutoring math and science, hiking, listening to podcasts, and reading. Kaile has a passion for learning and hopes to spark the same in her students. Her most recent educational explorations have included research on the life of Cleopatra and desperately trying to comprehend (and fix) the inner workings of the cooling system in her car. Kaile loves tutoring and is excited every day she gets to work with students.

INTERNATIONAL SAT, WRITING, READING

Trevor still says he is from San Clemente, CA despite living in Utah for the last five years. He recently graduated from the University of Utah with a Master of Arts in Communication, where he pursued research in critical media studies and artificial intelligence. Trevor has over five years of teaching experience at a university level and is passionate about learning. When not working, Trevor loves film, theater, music, and television of all kinds. He also loves cooking (and eating) and spending time with his cat Douglas.

SAT/ACT, CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY

Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Katie is currently studying at UC Berkeley, majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology and minoring in Global Poverty and Practice. At Berkeley, she is a co-instructor for Cancer 101 and also works as an Advising Fellow for Matriculate, a college advising program aimed to help first generation college applicants. In her free time, Katie enjoys running, skiing, and doing crosswords.

AP US HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE

Our resident AP US History expert (via Zoom), Kevin originally hails from Wisconsin, where he earned a BA in Political Science from UW-Madison. From there he traveled to Illinois, and one MA in Political Science later from UI-Chicago, he continued to move West, eventually landing in Park City, UT as a much-loved APUSH teacher for many years. These days Kevin finds himself in Ohio, wishing for the days when he can travel again (he has been to 20 countries and 49 states) and maybe one day again dress up as Teddy Roosevelt when he covers the Progressive Era!

INTERNATIONAL SAT, LSAT

Kelsey is a lawyer and professor whose passion for teaching has led her to tutor for the past decade. She graduated from American University with a BA in International Studies and then went on her to get her law degree at Temple University. Kelsey has worked as an attorney with non-profit organizations all over the world and taught graduate-level courses at Kean University. She now lives in beautiful Ireland, working on her Phd in Law at Trinity College, Dublin.

Wherever her law career has taken her, Kelsey just can’t give up the satisfaction that comes helping students accomplish their goals. She enjoys working with SAT/ACT students, as well as assisting with essays and college entrance applications. It’s also great when she can combine her love of tutoring and the law, helping students prep for the LSAT, law classes, and the Bar Exam.

In her spare time, Kelsey loves hiking the gorgeous Irish countryside with her family dog Bruno.