Tupinio fuses education, entertainment in the classroom.
PASSION. Mr. Rayn Tupinio(L) explains the rules to an educational game as students Kylie Corum (R), Ayden Vaeao (Middle), and Jax Navarro (Back) listen. Mr. Tupinio has been utilizing games to educate students since he began teaching, but has been putting more focus on them this year. “I try to build things into my class that keep students interested,” Tupinio said. “Whether that be building more perspectives into my teaching or through the games that we’ve been playing.”
March 7, 2023
New Social Studies Teacher Mr. Rayn Tupinio slowly approaches the front of his classroom, the crowd of rowdy students around him slowly ends their conversations as he calls their attention to the board. Today’s lesson is not very traditional, but is a staple to Mr. Tupinio’s class. The class prepares to learn about the second world war through a series of games. As Tupinio calmly explains the rules, the previously rowdy students become excited to learn through this unique method, bickering amongst themselves over who should get to be team captains. Tupinio then selects the team captains and lets the game begin.
Mr. Tupinio teaches Recent American History. He feels that he is able to effectively communicate history through incremental work that builds on top of itself.
“Many teachers view the work they assign as one assignment to the next, and I try to view it as a bigger piece of a puzzle,” Tupinio said. “I’d like to think that my students see that each thing we learn is a piece of history that builds on itself.”
Mr. Tupinio further engages students with the social studies curriculum through games that seek to teach history in a fun and compelling way. Freshman Cloud Doop feels that Mr. Tupinio’s methods lead to a more interesting and memorable class.
“I feel like he does more hands-on experiences with games,” Doop said. “He makes things a lot easier to understand than many of my other teachers.”
Tupinio graduated from Fort Osage as valedictorian in 2014. Freshman Ethan Rogers believes Tupinio provides understanding and empathy to his students.
“He doesn’t get mad when you mess up and he helps you through everything,” Rogers said. “He helps instead of yelling at you.”
Tupinio graduated from WIlliam Jewel with a degree in secondary education. Initially Tupinio had no passion for teaching, but a good professor was able to change his views on education.
“I just wanted to do whatever I thought was easiest, but it changed,” Tupinio said. “I had a Professor who really changed my perspective on education and I really started to view it as something that could actually change the world, even little by little.”
As the games come to a close, Tupinio can be seen helping his students clean up and reorganize the room. As the bell rings and students begin to exit, he quickly returns to his desk and begins to prepare the following day’s assignments.
