Our Team at Mathnasium of Monterey Park

Lucia Filippone

I majored in mathematics at Tulane University. At Mathnasium, I love learning about students and what their interests are. In my free time, I love building Lego sets. An interesting fact about me is that I went to Belgium for the first time last summer.

Harry Xie

Harry graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. What he loves about Mathnasium is that it focuses on building true understanding rather than memorization. He finds it incredibly rewarding to watch students gain confidence as they learn and to help them realize that math can be both simple and fun. Harry believes that learning math is a lot like training—just as you get stronger every time you work out, you get better at math every time you practice. Outside of Mathnasium, some of his hobbies include working out, playing video games, and exploring new technology.  

Ryan Giberti

Ryan is part of the Monterey Park team. He is currently attending Cal State LA and is working on his Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics. What he loves about Mathnasium is that Mathnasium works to not only students get back on track or further their understanding of math, but also the fact that they use methods that are easy to understand for students in a way that they can do the math. My hobbies include going on walks and spending time with my friends. Fun Fact: I was once a student that was in the Monterey Park Center of Mathnasium back when I was a kid.

Tristin Tapia

Tristin is currently attending California State University Los Angeles working on his Bachelor's Degree in Integrated Mathematics. What he loves about Mathnasium is that he gets to learn and teach Math in new ways that he was not taught in school. His hobbies include video games and cooking. Fun Fact: I have a personal character that I made called Sueki.

Hong Yu

Hong has an impressive background in Aerospace Engineering and brings over a decade of tutoring experience to our center. Before joining Mathnasium, most of his tutoring experience was done at the college level. Hong admits that he felt slightly nervous when he first joined our team, not having much experience working with younger students. However, he sees how our teaching techniques really get students to understand math in a way that actually makes sense. Hong still dreams of becoming an Aerospace Engineer, where one day he will be building spaceships and designing technology to explore the vastness of outer space. When he is not teaching (or dreaming), he stays relatively grounded by reading non-fiction materials on science, engineering, and aviation. He also likes to keep up with sports and current events.

Dylan Gov

Dylan Gov is currently attending Pasadena City College, where he’s pursuing Data Science. Since joining Mathnasium in August 2024, he has enjoyed meeting new people and helping others with math. Outside of school, Dylan loves playing basketball, diving into video games, and trying out new food. A fun fact about Dylan is that he’s left-handed, which always leads to interesting conversations!

Patrick Le (Pat)

Patrick is one of our newer instructors here at the Monterey Park Center. He attended PCC/ Cal Poly Pomona as a Computer Science Major. His hobbies outside of Mathnasium are music, games, anime/manga, and taking runs. What he loves about working here at Monterey Park is that it is very organized and has a clean workspace; work is smooth and makes helping all the students all the more fun. Fun Fact about himself: Used to be good at piano and ranks high in rhythm games

Brittany Trinh

Brittany attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she majored in Biomedical Engineering. She joined Mathnasium in April 2025 and loves getting to know all the students while learning different methods and tricks for solving math problems. Brittany enjoys making math feel approachable and fun for everyone she works with. In her free time, Brittany loves visiting new matcha cafes and tea shops, building Legos with friends, and working on wooden puzzles. An interesting fact about her is that she has two cats at home, even though she’s allergic!

Pedro Branicio

Pedro attended Mark Keppel High School and is currently studying Physics and Computer Science at USC. What he loves about Mathnasium is having a place where he can freely gush about math and share his enthusiasm with students. Outside of Mathnasium, Pedro enjoys running, hiking, and playing retro games. An interesting fact about him is that he has lived in Brazil, Singapore, and the United States, and he’s even built his own computers.

Alejandra Cermeno

Alejandra graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. Shortly after graduation, Alejandra joined the Mathnasium of Pasadena team as an instructor and advanced her way to Center Director over the course of 3 years. As Education Specialist, she is now in charge of all student learning plans, training of new instructors, and furthering the training of current instructors.

Jesse De La Roca

Jesse graduated California State University of Long Beach in 2023 with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Animation/Game Design. He previously worked as a Lead Instructor at Mathnasium of Seal Beach from 2021-2023. He transferred to Mathnasium of South Pasadena and served as a Lead Instructor from 2023-2025.  As District Support Specialist, he is working his way up to working with all our Mathnasium centers ensuring quality service to our students and families.

Andrew Molina

Andrew graduated from the University of San Diego in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. After graduation, he joined the team at Mathnasium of South Pasadena as a Math Instructor. After moving his way up to Lead Instructor and Assistant Center Director, Andrew became the Center Director for the Mathnasium of South Pasadena. Due to the wonderful time he had to manage the South Pasadena center over the course of 3 years, Andrew looks forward to his new role as District Manager. As District Manager Andrew will oversee the management of the Mathnasium centers located in Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Marino, and South Pasadena. He is excited to continue to provide top-tier customer service at each Mathnasium location as well as helping build his students’ confidence so they can succeed at any goal they set for themselves.

Max Nuckols

Hi! I’m Max. I’ve been with Mathnasium since 2019 when I started as an instructor as a high school senior. When I graduated, I went to NYU for two years to study biochemistry, but later decided to come home and change my major to Business Administration. I’m currently working full time at Mathnasium while attending classes part time at Cal Poly Pomona to finish my degree. I love what we do here because the idea of making math fun for kids is such a unique philosophy, and it’s something I resonate with a lot because I love to learn. In my own time, I’m a huge nerd for science, history, sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, and more, and once you get me started, I could talk for hours about these things. I also enjoy outdoor activities, and even built a skimboard out of plywood a couple years ago so I could learn to ride it at the beach. If you see me in the center at any point, don’t be afraid to say hi!