Excellence, responsibility, and leadership are values which shine through every tutor at AHEAD Tutorial & Review Center, the country’s best tutorial and review center. Only the most qualified teachers become tutors at AHEAD, which offers a comprehensive range of one-on-one academic tutorials, as well as reviews for entrance examinations into the country’s leading universities.
Teachers Maria Azalea Florentino, Nikko Geanne Nicanor, and Jerby Lopez are sterling examples of the stringent standards set by AHEAD for its tutors, who have answered the call to their profession with a genuine love for teaching.
“I believe being a teacher is such a noble calling,” Teacher Jerby says. “When you teach, you touch the future.”
A degree from the country’s top three universities is among AHEAD’s requirements for its tutors: Teacher Azalea completed her graduate studies in Basic Education in Teaching at the Ateneo de Manila University. Teacher Nikko has a BS Education (Mathematics) degree, and Teacher Jerby has a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics, both from the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines.
There are other qualifications as well. Teacher Azalea, for instance, had 11 years of teaching experience at the Ateneo Grade School and Xavier School before joining AHEAD.
“You get a different kind of fulfillment and satisfaction whenever you see your students learn and progress in life. Teaching gives a different kind of affirmation which can never be measured in accolades,” she says.
Teacher Nikko had been tutoring for six years teaching Math, Science, and English to primary, secondary, tertiary, and professional level students individually as well as in groups and large classes. Having been at AHEAD since January 2014, he now teaches all Math subjects, Physics, Chemistry and General Science, and conducts reviews for the college entrance tests, among others.
“What I like about teaching is that I can impart not only knowledge but inspiration as well. There is a sense of fulfillment when my students improve and gain confidence,” Teacher Nikko says.
Teacher Jerby passed the Civil Service Professional Eligibility exam with a grade of 85.64, and is currently averaging 1.375 while completing his Certificate Course in Professional Education at UP Diliman. He has been teaching all grade school subjects as well as Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Calculus, and Statistics at AHEAD for more than two years.
“What I love about teaching is when your student really learns the topic you are teaching. I also love the feeling when my students say, ‘You should teach at our school,’” says Teacher Jerby.
AHEAD gives its teachers an environment that nurtures their love for teaching, providing opportunities for training and self-improvement alongside competitive salary and benefit packages. This environment encourages teachers to hone their abilities and follow their passion at AHEAD, which has become their tutorial and review center of choice.
Teacher Azalea says, “Having spent a total of 11 years in the classroom doing whole-class instruction, I realized that I could give more of myself in one-on-one teaching or in a smaller group set-up. It’s more intimate and I get to focus all my attention and energy on attending to a student’s needs.”
For his part, Teacher Nikko welcomes being able to teach college students at AHEAD, while noting its “systematic, organized, and excellent” teaching environment. Teacher Jerby also says he appreciates the exposure to a variety of students and teachers provided by AHEAD.
“I like teaching at AHEAD because I am exposed to different types of students,” he says. “I also like it because I get to know other expert teachers, and the staff is fun to work with.”
As AHEAD continues to offer the highest quality in supplementary education services, its teachers remain the embodiment of its core values and the cornerstone of its commitment to help students achieve their academic goals.
“I always make it a point to do my best in teaching my students. I take responsibility for their success. Their failure is my failure,” Teacher Jerby says.
“I feel that there is a lot that teachers can do to inspire students and propel them to make the right choices.”