Brena is an expert test prep and math and science mentor with nearly 20 years of experience helping hundreds of students master the ACT, SAT, and STEM courses at all levels, including AP. Brena has been sharing her skills and love of learning with students since she entered her local university, CSU-Pueblo, at 15 as a full-time degree-seeking student, following the near perfect ACT scores she received in 7th and 8th grade. From tutoring in the Math Learning Center and teaching College Algebra classes for 3 years during college, to teaching at MSU-Denver for 4 years, to opening the ESM Prep LA office in Brentwood, CA, she has continued to find and make opportunities to teach at every turn. In 2020, she moved back to her home state of Colorado where she continues to share knowledge and seek more knowledge, taking classes for continuing education and personal growth. 

Brena believes math is a beautiful and functional topic, but understands that it can be a very dry and intimidating one for many students. She also knows standardized tests are also one of the major hurdles high school students and college students face. Nonetheless, she firmly believes they can be fun when students can talk through ideas out loud and gain insights from an expert with almost 20 years of experience. Brena loves seeing that “Aha!” moment light turn on in students’ eyes! 

When Brena isn’t helping students connect with challenging topics in math or science (or excel in higher mathematics), she’s probably inventing knitting techniques or making some other art, gardening, exploring more math or science or computer science topics, or playing with her cat (Purrsephone), rabbit (Dr. Bingley), or human (Eric).  

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Testimonials

"As always, thank you for the write up and your willingness to jump between physics and math. It is helpful to get another level of insight into how my daughter is doing. And another huge thank you for working with her last week to achieve an A in physics!! :)" - Parent of Math and Physics student

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"Brena, thank you for helping my daughter with her school math—it was an important grade for her and she wanted to do well. She loves working with you because you love math and love teaching math." - Parent of Math student

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"Thank you so much for all you have done with our daughter to prepare her for all of her tests! She really appreciated all of your feedback and tips. It was a hard year for sure, but definitely a good one." - Parent of SAT student