SAN ANTONIO — Cameron Tufino teaches 7th grade English Language Arts and Reading at Losoya Middle School. Southside ISD nominated him for the award for his excellence in class, bringing top education to his students.
KENS 5 Anchor Sarah Forgany and partner Credit Human visited Tufino in his classroom to present him with the award including $1,000.
“We’re going to start off with our Soldier’s Creed,” Cameron Tufino is on a mission, "I will always place the mission first,” he told his classroom while scrolling through a slideshow. Students then repeated after him, "I will always place the mission first.”
At first it looks as if Tufino’s class is a bootcamp, admitting he sets the bar high for his 7th graders in his English Language Arts and Reading Class at Losoya Middle School.
“That's sort of the incorporation of like a Soldier's Creed. Okay, this is where we're at and this is how we're going to go about it,” Tufino said, emphasizing the stakes are high with a gargantuan curriculum, "We have a lot to do as Texas teachers.”
Work hard, play hard is his strategy. Always putting his best foot forward, Tufino has become known among colleagues and students for captivating lessons.
"He's energetic, very energetic,” 7th grader Mason Rodriguez told us, “There are some boring teachers out there,” but not Mr. Tufino his students quickly pointed out.
Tufino’s passion for cinema and music brings out a side the kids love to see and interact with, "I thought I was going to be a movie critic,” Tufino said.
When you walk into his artistic classroom, it’s clear pop culture inspires the core of his lessons.
"We call it reading with cinema,” Tufino said, “We use it to teach plot elements and themes,” adding it’s the strategy he uses to stray away from monotonous plans and help students memorize what they read.
Posters of popular artists and figures like Selena, Barbie and Lady Gaga fill up his classroom but each piece carries a lesson with it.
"We put together a Barbie box this year to fundraise for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bracelet that you would purchase during that time, you'd also get a photo in the Barbie box,” Tufino said pointing to pink pictures of students posing inside a barbie photobooth, hanging on his wall.
Barbie proving to be a hit with kids, Tufino used it again, only this time to raise awareness to a critical issue many children face in school, “October is anti-bullying month and so, there is a character known as Weird Barbie who is sort of isolated and disenfranchised by all the other Barbies. So for that month, teaching about anti-bullying was showing the scenes from that and how we could learn to be kinder and more accepting of others.”
As a proud Swiftie who confesses to his students he has seen Taylor Swift four times in concert, Tufino takes pride in finding unique things to bond with students for a chance to connect and build a relationship beyond tough lessons.
The result, it seems to be working if you ask his 7th graders, "more exciting for us,” one student said, while 13 year old Trinity Gregory added how Tufino has truly helped her grasp even the toughest concepts, "It helps break down the story to understand it even more. "
After watching movie scenes and reading lesson plans, Tufino makes sure his students can apply what they have learned. Their comprehension of what they watched and read is then translated into pieces of art like Bluey, Minions, Lightning McQueen and Anime Figures, all hanging inside the class or outside in the hallways of the school.
“How to make a mental movie of what they read, and that incorporates the five senses. It's not so much is this art? It's more of, a visualization of what they've been reading."
Tufino says coming up with creative ideas and implementing larger projects requires many hours. He knows it’s not a 9 to 5 job but says it keeps him motivated and excited to come to class. In fact he likes to joke with his students that sometimes he never really leaves, "I like to make a joke, that yeah, I'm just living in that closet over there, I pop out when you guys are here.”
"This classroom,” said student Fabian Martinez, “This is what makes me want to go to school."
For Tufino, these 7th graders flourishing is his biggest reward, watching them evolve from the start of the school year, like a good story, with a beginning, middle and end.
“I just want to see them do their best and I know that they could reach their best potential,” Tufino said.
KENS 5 along with partner Credit Human honor exemplary teachers from 19 school districts every school year with the KEN 5 EXCEL Award.
This is the KENS 5 EXCEL Awards 25th years partnering with Credit Human to honor local teachers. If you’d like to watch past winners, click on kens5.com/EXCEL.