Made by Educators for Educators: Meet our ORIGO Educators

Welcome to ORIGO’s Employee Spotlight, where we shine a light on incredible individuals from our organization! For the next few weeks, we will be featuring the passionate educators who shape and inspire ORIGO products and services!

At the heart of our organization are ex-educators, who understand the intricacies of the classroom, and possess first-hand knowledge of the challenges and triumphs that come with shaping young minds. Our team’s collective experience in the field empowers ORIGO to create resources that resonate with educators, ensuring that our tools seamlessly integrate into the dynamic learning environments they help cultivate.

Join us for this fun spotlight series to get to know members of our ORIGO family!

This Week’s Employee Spotlight: Gabby Tate

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role within the ORIGO?

What is your title? I am a Resource Advisor for Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. The last time I was an RA was in college and that looked very different than my typical day now haha

What does a typical day at work look like for you? A typical day consists of a lot of emails, calls and supporting customers. I am an extrovert and adjusting to working from home has been a challenge at times. I cherish every moment I can learn from and learn with customers.

How long have you been a part of the ORIGO team? I have been a part of the amazing ORIGO team since September, 2023.

What motivated you to join the ORIGO team? I loved everyone I met in my interviews and was impressed by the company culture. I also fell in love with our products as I was researching especially our spaced learning approach.

Can you tell us about your past teaching experience? I started my teaching career in 2011 as a 4th grade math teacher in Houston, Texas. Sadly, most of my students attended an underperforming middle school so I was asked to become an assistant principal and move to the middle school. This was a huge challenge but taught me so much. After being an educator in Texas for 7 years, I moved back home to Chicago and taught 6th grade math on the West Side. During the 2020-2021 school year, I became an Assistant Principal and have done that for the past three years. My wife and I are having a baby so I decided to leave a school based setting for better balance for my family. I am deeply grateful that I found ORIGO!

What was your favorite thing about teaching? Forming deep connections with students and families! I had some of my students and families attend my wedding and I am going back to Houston in May 2024 to see my old 4th graders graduate from high school!!

Any inspiring stories to share? I was deeply moved by the indomitable, ingenious spirit during the pandemic. It was the hardest time to be a teacher but my team and I stepped up to the impossible challenge. We dropped off wifi boxes so students could access online learning, provided batteries so we didn’t have to hear the chirping of smoke detectors and I even hosted an Instagram live cake party for Kids Day. The pandemic made me realize just how much we are underutilizing parents and how important provided for the whole child is.

Are there any specific projects or initiatives that you’ve worked on at ORIGO that you feel particularly proud of? I LOVED being our company mascot at NCTM. I’ve never attended a national math conference and this experience was inspiring. It is powerful to see how many people are working for math equity across the US.

What’s your favorite part of your job? It is going to sound nerdy but I truly LOVE getting a call or email from a customer. I was a teacher and an administrator and I know how hard the work can be. I cherish every moment I can support a hard worker educator.

What’s your favorite thing about ORIGO? My coworkers! Everyone is so friendly and passionate about math learning. We are like the friendly, nerdy kids who are enthusiastic about math but also kinda cool.

What’s your favorite ORIGO product and why? THINK TANKS! I would have loved this resource as a teacher. It is rigorous yet adorable. It is expansive yet compact. It is domain specific, trackable and encourages collaboration. It’s a no brainer!

If you had to be one of ORIGO’s characters- which one would you be and why? The Turtle! I started as a 4th grade teacher and that is the mascot for the 4th grade books. Also, he is super cute and I love that he is glancing at a watch like they aren’t late for everything.

If you could have 1 superpower, what would it be and why? Teleport…duh. I love to travel and have massive FOMO. I could be anywhere at once…OMG sign me up!

Be sure to check back next week for another ORIGO Employee Spotlight!