Coach Biographies
> Getting a Coach
Beth Samuelson See Biography for more information.
David Richards
David was born in England, but raised in Santa Barbara, California. After struggling as a student in high school, he spent time at Santa Barbara City College, where he had a second chance to learn the importance of study and organizational strategies. He transferred to UC Berkeley where he received a BA in History with a minor in Spanish. After graduating from Berkeley, David spent time teaching Spanish to middle school students and began his time with SOS. While exploring career options, he taught English and History in Costa Rica and Mexico, helped open the London office of an established San Francisco Public Relations company, and explored a career in media and politics in Washington, D.C. This exploration brought him back to what he always loved: teaching and working with kids. He went to Stanford and earned a Masters degree in Education. He currently works at Summit Preparatory Charter High School in Redwood City where he is a history teacher and a basketball coach. His time teaching and living abroad, his work with students from varied backgrounds, and his own family’s struggle with learning challenges, gives him a unique perspective and a skill to connect with many different types of students and help them be successful regardless of their challenges.
David lives with his wife in Oakland, and they enjoy traveling to Mexico either for her work or for vacation. When he is not coaching or teaching, you can find him around Lake Merritt, playing basketball, or following the Warriors and the California Golden Bears.
Elyse Grossman
Elyse was born in the Los Angeles area. She studied Literature at UC Santa Cruz. While earning her Bachelor’s degree, she worked on writing skills with incoming freshmen who had not met the Subject A writing requirements for the University of California system. It was during this period that Elyse realized that she found her true calling: teaching. She went on take classes in education and then returned to UC Santa Cruz and earned a Masters degree in Education.
Elyse has experience working with junior high, high school and college students with very different backgrounds and approaches to learning. Elyse has taught junior high school at a charter school whose emphasis was on integrating nature and lifelong guidelines that emphasized the importance of community. Elyse began teaching high school English in 2003. Most recently she was an English Literature teacher at Saint Mary’s College High School.
Since elementary school Elyse has been very active in sports; playing soccer, softball and track. Elyse has maintained her zeal for athletics and the outdoors as it has carried into her adult life. Elyse coached high school soccer, enjoys daily hikes/runs and running half marathons. After having her son she became a certified personal trainer so she could be a fitness instructor for other new moms. She enjoys reading and sharing with others all types of literature and assisting people in becoming better writers whether it is help on resumes, college entrance essays, or just general report writing help.
Elyse lives in Oakland with her husband, son Ethan, and dog Buddy.
Jenny Budke
Jenny was born in Berkeley, and is a Lamorinda native. A graduate of Miramonte High School, she graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design and a minor in English. Jenny entered the single subject tract at Cal Poly to earn her teaching credential.
Jenny spent summers coaching swimming in Lafayette, and continued coaching with both USS clubs and adult masters’ teams. This was the beginning of her passion for working with adolescents, specifically working individually to set goals and fine tune techniques and training practices. Jenny is a firm believer that consistent involvement in sports and activities during this tumultuous period of the teen years prepares students for the victories of hard work in academics and life beyond.
Jenny has taught fine art for elementary and high schoolers in Walnut Creek. She has also taught home economics to middle and high schoolers in both Walnut Creek and San Jose. She created tutoring program for middle school students in math, and applies hands on and visual learning as much as possible.
Jenny is grateful for the ability to work two diverse fields: financial/accounting, and education. She also is employed as an archivist and special projects aficionado of a small dynamic company, which appeals to her logical, and interpersonal learning styles. S.O.S. allows her to utilize her visual and kinesthetic skills. She believes that being in two distinctly different fields is a healthy balance and allows her to understand the kinds of organizational skills required of students once they graduate.
In her very limited spare time, she does indoor rowing and is looking forward to trying her luck with some racing soon. She enjoys playing with her young daughter, Elyse, and then spending a quiet evening with her husband!
Jonathan Shugart
Jonathan is a native of Berkeley, California, a graduate of Berkeley High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an experienced veteran in Contra Costa youth and educational programs, and an avid fan of the Oakland Athletics.
Jonathan began his career working with children at the age of 15 when he became a counselor at Camp Kee Tov in Berkeley, and since has developed a life-long dependence on campfires, singing on hikes, and playing capture the flag. In high school, Jonathan poured his energy into academics and the Berkeley High Men's Crew team, two things which ultimately led him to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he rowed crew and studied Psychology. Returning to the East Bay with just a suitcase and a bachelor's degree, Jonathan spent three years working in Lafayette, first as an administrator at the Sylvan Learning Center, and then as the Youth & Camp Director of Temple Isaiah. In the Fall of 2006, Jonathan turned his focus away from youth groups and summer camps and began working full-time at Seneca Center in their San Leandro Residential Program. Currently, when not coaching students with SOS, Jonathan counsels boys and girls ranging in age from 5 to 13, providing care within four separate group homes in Alameda County.
Jonathan attributes his success with the children that have passed through his care to his communication style. Jonathan feels that every child deserves both respect and a chance to develop in the way which they feel most comfortable. As an academic coach, Jonathan uses his own experiences with being overwhelmed to show compassion for students’ situations and patience in collaborating to find a solution that they can take ownership of.
A perfect day for Jonathan would include a morning sail on the Bay followed by a game of baseball with close friends, a slice of Zachary's Pizza, a long, winding drive along the Pacific Coast Highway with no traffic, watching the sunset on the beach, and then playing an intense game of Spades while listening to music.
Gretchen Wegner
Gretchen was born in San Francisco, but grew up traveling the world with her family. As a child, she sighted kangaroos in Australia and lived in a village in Egypt. Her family finally settled in Houston, Texas where Gretchen was a theatre major at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts. Her interest in international studies brought her to Macalester College in Minnesota, where she graduated with highest honors in Intercultural Performance Studies.
Her next adventure was in India as a Fulbright Research Scholar. It was here that Gretchen realized that her true calling was teaching. When she returned to the United States, she spent three years teaching drama and social skills through CLIMB Theatre in Minnesota. Gretchen still loves the fact that "CLIMB" stands for Creative Learning Ideas for Mind and Body because this describes her whole approach to teaching and learning. She strongly believes that everyone is an expert learner, but sometimes they need a creative approach to discovering this expertise. She is passionate about helping kids figure out how their brains tick, and then channel that knowledge into success at school and in life. Over the last ten years she has worked with elementary, middle, and high school students teaching world history, language arts, study skills, improvisation and public speaking. She has worked successfully with all levels, from self-contained special education students to Advanced Placement--and even graduate students!
When Gretchen is not teaching, you can find her in front of her backyard fireplace, or attending an InterPlay improvisation class where she gets to be extremely goofy. She also enjoys hiking, backpacking, and swing dance.
Testimonials
Mark Goodenough
Mark has a wide ranging experience teaching in high schools and in diverse settings including charter schools, English Language Development programs, and in reading programs for the incarcerated. He grew up in the Bay Area and British Columbia.
Trained in the nationally recognized English Education department at the University of Georgia, Mark received his teaching credential, and taught high school English in Georgia before returning to school to get his law degree at Vermont Law School. After law school, he worked in conservation real estate for regional and national land trusts, preserving and protecting threatened lands for public use and enjoyment. Upon moving back to California, he returned to the teaching profession and has since worked as a high school English and Humanities instructor.
Mark has an abiding interest in understanding the “whole student” and trying to parse what might be inhibiting the establishment of successful habits. As a Literature and Western Civilizations teacher at Orion Academy in Moraga, he works with students who are in the Asperger’s Syndrome/Nonverbal Learning Disorder spectrum, teaching topically in addition to aiding them with their information processing and understanding of cause and effect, including planning, organizing, and integration of thought.
During his free time, you can find Mark enjoying Farmer’s Markets all over the Bay Area, participating in various trivia nights, reading widely, and enjoying the sights and sounds of the dynamic local music scene.
Testimonials
Matt Foley
Matt grew up in the hills of rural Maine where he cultivated a love for the outdoors. As an Asian Studies major at Trinity College in Connecticut, Matt combined interests in Eastern philosophy, biology, and psychology. In the professional world, Matt has used experiential teaching and mentoring techniques as a teacher for underprivileged teens in Maine, a director for study abroad programs in China and India, an educator instrumental in the creation of a web based China-US exchange program, and most recently as a tutor with Berkeley High School for low-income and under-represented students. Matt's ability to listen to and empathize with students allows him to pinpoint challenges at both academic and personal levels, and to work to achieve success and confidence. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies in psychology with a focus on adolescents.
Matt's passion for teaching and mentoring has taken him around the world and back; it’s also allowed him to teach and pursue diverse subjects from Mandarin Chinese to jazz drumming. Having moved recently from Beijing to Berkeley, Matt's nascent ping-pong addiction complements other life long interests in basketball, mountain biking, and skiing.
Testimonials
Robert Hudon
Robert Hudon is a native of Colorado, resident of San Francisco, and happy wayfarer to anywhere inaccessible by plane. After studying biology and philosophy at Santa Clara University, he moved to rural Venezuela to work for an educational foundation. Here, on the edge of the Amazon basin and overlooking endless Venezuelan tepuis, he piloted a school and ecocenter with the local community. He taught math, chemistry, English, and Spanish in 6-9th grade, ran workshops, and led 10-day student camps in agriculture, ecology, eco-building, public health and leadership skills. Robert later worked for an international foundation in Myanmar/Burma, establishing teacher training programs and rural health clinics with doctors and community members.
While coaching at SOS, Robert is taking classes and laboring miserably over medical school applications. Working with students provides him a source of sanity and pleasure. Over the last two years he has been teaching and tutoring college students in the sciences. His broad experience makes him a versatile coach familiar with a variety of learning styles, needs, and strengths.
When not in the classroom Robert can be found looking for any good excuse to be outside in sunny California, whether biking, hiking, skipping or hopping. He is also a Class 3C ping-ponger.
Testimonials
Sarah Ruvolo
Sarah was born in Concord and grew up in Orinda graduating from Miramonte High School. She went on to study at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she had her first taste of teaching while working as a peer study group leader leading one on one and small group review sessions. Sarah graduated from Cal Poly with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. After graduation she pursued her interest in education and love of nature by working as an educator at Aquarium of the Bay.
Sarah earned her teaching credential at Cal State East bay and has worked as a science teacher at Orion Academy, a college preparatory high school for students with Asperger’s disorder and Nonverbal Learning Disorder, since 2001. By teaching a range of science classes covering both the physical and life sciences, she has created and identified tools and strategies to help students be successful and identifying the ones that work best for each student.
Always up for an adventure, Sarah has taken several residential summer teaching positions taking her to different locations throughout the country and teaching a wide variety of students. These include three summers teaching at John’s Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Program and a Fall Semester teaching environmental education at an outdoor ecology school on the coast of Maine. While journeys across the country are always a thrill and a great way to gain new life experiences, Sarah is always drawn back to the bay area and is enjoying establishing roots as a new homeowner.
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