Holly is a Special Education teacher of over 10 years. After earning her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Boston University, she taught in Texas as a Special Education classroom teacher, Resource Teacher and an Inclusion Facilitator. Upon moving to New Jersey with her family she completed her certification in the Structured Literacy Program, Orton Gillingham. Through her private tutoring, Holly found there were limited tutoring options for the low income community. With the support of her wonderful family, the idea of Raising Hands came to be!

Lauren is a special education teacher at Bartle Elementary School in Highland Park. She has been teaching over 10 years. Throughout her teaching career, she has taught special education students and general education students, grades two through five. Lauren received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rider University with a double major in Elementary Education (K-5) and Psychology, with a minor in Special Education (K-5). She also received her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the American College of Education.
Lauren is excited to continue her journey to become a trained, Orton Gillingham certified teacher!

Mariah is a middle school special education teacher at Highland Park Middle School. She has been teaching for four years, and has taught K-8 Special Education, STEM and Gifted Education. Mariah graduated from The College of New Jersey with a M.A. in Teaching Special Education with a focus on Reading in 2018. Mariah loves reading, especially novels recommended by her students. She is excited to be learning a new way to assist struggling learners and build their confidence and love of reading!

Mary is an elementary school teacher at Bartle School in Highland Park. She has been teaching for over 10 years, working with students from grades 1 through 5. She received her B.A.s in elementary education and English and her M.Ed in special education from The College of New Jersey. She has spent a great deal of her classroom experience working with students with special needs, co-teaching in an inclusion classroom. Mary follows a Responsive Classroom approach to working with students, connecting academics and social-emotional learning. She is excited to expand her teaching knowledge by becoming trained in Orton Gillingham to reach our most at-risk students.

Danielle is a certified Special Education and Elementary Education teacher who has been working in the profession for 10 years. She currently teaches at Bartle Elementary School in Highland Park, NJ. She graduated from Rutgers with a M.A. in Learning, Cognition, and Development and believes in educating the whole child-academically, emotionally, and socially. Danielle strives to foster a love of learning and reading and truly believes that reading can take you anywhere!

May Lewis has been an educator at Bartle Elementary School in Highland Park, NJ for over twenty years. She earned a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.Ed. in Elementary Reading and Literacy from Walden University. For the past three years she has held the position of Reading Interventionist. Prior to that, she enjoyed teaching third grade. May loves working with striving readers and seeing their small daily achievements turn into great success over the course of the school year. May loves reading (of course!), traveling in Europe, hiking and yoga. At Bartle, she spreads her passion for mindfulness, body awareness, strength and flexibility through her afterschool kid’s yoga club.

Additional Team Members

Harry Glazer is a Communication Consultant with 30+ years of experience in higher education, non profits, and health care. He currently serves as the Aide to the Mayor of Highland Park and the Borough’s Public Information Officer. He also works as a writer for a national nonprofit organization, based in NYC, and as the community editor for a weekly statewide newspaper. Harry and his family have resided in Highland Park for 27 years.

Attorney by trade, philanthropist at heart. Recently retired, Tom spends the majority of his time with family and supporting charities, nationwide. Born in New Orleans and a resident of Texas, Tom has dedicated his life to helping others and supporting non profits. Tom’s continuous guidance and legal expertise helped pave the way for Raising Hands Tutoring (and for that we are incredibly thankful).
Tom is pictured with his supportive wife, Margie and two grandsons.

Anthony is a student at Rutgers University pursuing a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Management and Policy. In their bachelor’s-level field placement, Anthony worked with the Burlington County Library System and created the library’s first comprehensive social service guide for use by staff, patrons, and community partners. They have also worked with the Rutgers Upward Bound program and tutored students participating in the AVID program at the McKinley Community School in New Brunswick. Additionally, they currently work for Rutgers Digital Classroom Services, assisting professors with classroom technology in person and over the phone.

Our Tutors