Academic Approach
Gabrielle Omatick is a skilled professional with diverse experience in education, client services, and leadership. Currently serving as a Talent Success Specialist at Academic Approach since October 2020, Gabrielle leads instructor onboarding, designs training programs, and manages staffing needs for school programs. Previous roles include Client Care Coordinator at Wrigleyville Veterinary Center, where emotional and urgent situations were effectively handled, and Administrative Assistant at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where administrative and client interaction skills were honed. Gabrielle has a strong background in tutoring and instruction, specializing in standardized test preparation, and has experience teaching dance to students aged 7-18. An Engineering graduate from Penn State University, Gabrielle also holds an Instructional Design Certificate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has participated in a Semester Abroad program in Galway.
Academic Approach
The idea for Academic Approach was born 13 years ago at Columbia University in New York City. While earning a PhD in English and teaching college freshmen in Columbia's core curriculum, I was at the same time tutoring New York City high school students for the standardized tests. I noticed an evident gap between the level of readiness my highschool students exhibited and the academic standards they would be expected to live up to on the college level.It occurred to me that the most meaningful way to offer test preparation was to create an academic curriculum that bridged these two levels of education, high school and college. Such a curriculum would allow me to use standardized tests in an innovative way: as a means to produce both better high school test takers and better college freshmen. We refer to this essential academic mission as "Teaching Beyond the TestTM."