Brian Leonard

A/OGA Candidate
OG Tutor

Brian has lived and thrived in Portland since 2013, working in education for most of that time. His curiosity for the natural world inspires his work in education and has led him to amazing experiences: witnessing the eruption of a volcano, swimming in a glacial lake, and being bitten by a rattlesnake. In hindsight, some experiences were better than others, but regardless, he brings that strong sense of curiosity to his lessons and students.

Before becoming a dyslexia tutor with LST, Brian taught and subbed middle school and high school science. In 2020, he became an elementary school teacher at Portland Forest School where he taught 3rd grade for 5 years. Brian has a special affinity for the outdoors and wrote and taught his own environmental immersion curriculum while at PFS. On warm days, he enjoys taking his tutoring sessions outside to local parks where his students can enjoy fresh air and singing birds while they work.

Currently, Brian is deep into his practicum for his Orton-Gillingham Associate’s certification through the Orton Academy, and enjoys tutoring dyslexic students of any age. He focuses on positive encouragement and believes boosting and maintaining the self-esteem of his students is crucial to overcoming reading and writing challenges. His joy of his work is infectious and (sometimes) even rubs off on his students!