La Mirada Tutors Come To You

La Mirada gained notoriety in the 1950s when, at the State Fair, it was boasted as the first completely planned city—essentially invented by city planners to show the world what a functional, thriving community should look like, complete with a business district, residential areas, traffic control measures, and a plan for future sprawl without discounting the practicality of its original inception. By the 1960s, La Mirada had been incorporated, with plans to grow. A few decades later, this planned city gave rise to an important figure in the theater and arts world today: Amber Riley.

Riley was born in Los Angeles in 1986, but grew up in La Mirada. She graduated from La Mirada High School auditioned for American Idol in the show’s early seasons. Within four short years, Riley had attracted the attention of executive producers at NBC, who were in the process of putting together a musical drama and comedy show. This show, which would become the popular GLEE, featured Riley as Mercedes Jones. Riley is best known for this role, and stayed on as a main cast member for all six of its seasons.

GLEE was an important television series for a number of reasons. First, it featured a diverse cast list, with a mixture of multiple ethnicities, genders, sexualities, and abilities. Second, it was a show that promoted inclusion and tolerance, often exploring difficult subject matter such as prejudice and racism, teen pregnancy, suicide, and the complexities of coming out of the closet for gay teens. In many ways, GLEE invited everyone to the table to not only watch, but empathize with the quirky, talented, and dynamic characters, including Riley. For her role as Mercedes Jones, Riley won a Screen Actors Guild Award and received nominations for three NAACP Image Awards and three Teen Choice Awards. Clearly, her influence on the show was a significant one for its six season run.

After GLEE, Riley has continued to see commercial success. She’s collaborated on albums, written music for major pop icons, and starred as Effie White in the Dreamgirls production on London’s West End. In 2012, she sang the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention, and also played Addaperle, the Good Witch of the NBC production of The Wiz. Her talent and diligent work ethic has kept her in the public spotlight over the last few years, and as a role model, Rlley embodies the character attributes of Mercedes Jones: brave, firm, and confident in her abilities to succeed.

Riley, and her role on GLEE in particular, gave viewers the chance to believe in themselves during a time when it is difficult to believe in anything. Adolescence is a rocky road to traverse, but thanks to Riley’s charisma, fans of GLEE can approach life with renewed purpose and confidence. It doesn’t take a GLEE fan to believe in oneself, however—sometimes working with a tutor in La Mirada will help a student overcome that hurdle. Grade Potential tutors are there to encourage their clients to live authentically and work hard—just like Amber Riley—in order to procure the academic success they so desire.