After she drinks her morning coffee, Tara Shuman loves to learn from everything and everyone around her. If you've ever crossed her path, expect that she's learned something from you.

 

Tara grew up in Canton, Massachusetts and attended Bowdoin College where she studied history and education. In 2000, she studied abroad in South Africa and taught high school students in Langa Township, just outside of Cape Town.

 

Immediately after college, Tara became a full-time Social Studies teacher at Canton High School. She attended Suffolk University Law School in the evenings and graduated with her law degree in 2008 (her then-4-month old son helped her celebrate).  

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Tara then joined Ropes & Gray LLP as an associate in their Boston office. She practiced law for 7 years, moving to a mid-size law firm just before she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 32. 

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It turns out cancer changes a person, or at the very least, it changed Tara. Most of all, cancer brought Tara to her keyboard and there she reactivated the creative writing muscles that had atrophied in the legal world. She authored a memoir, Hope Is a Good Breakfast, and subsequently self-published three children's books. 

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After retiring early from the law, Tara jumped back into teaching. She taught ELA at Boston Prep -- a public charter school in Hyde Park -- for six years. Her brilliant, resilient, brave students in Boston taught her more than she could have imagined. 

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Since 2017, Tara has grown her tutoring business into a thriving education company that offers learning opportunities for students of all ages (our learners range from 7 to 94 years old!). Wildewood Education opened its first brick-and-mortar center in March 2023; it's a historic space that Tara's likes to call her "dream classroom." 

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Tara lives in Canton with her husband (also a teacher), their two children, and their dog, Hope. She believes deeply in the power of truth, justice, and empathy. She also believes that education is the best hope for a healthy and peaceful planet.