These profiles of new Unalaska City School District teachers were written by high school students in Rainier Marquez's photojournalism class. They have not been edited by KUCB staff.
Rainier Marquez, known by the students as Mr. Marquez, is a new teacher at Unalaska City School. He grew up in Unalaska and came back in January and after a month he started to substitute for the school. At first, he was substituting but is now the Business Education teacher. He enjoyed growing up in Unalaska and being involved in many school activities.
“Wrestling was one of my main passions in high school,” said Mr. Marquez. He will also be coaching wrestling this year. Although he didn’t continue wrestling in college, he was involved in martial arts classes. He is also the advisor for pep club along with Reise Wayner, who is the shop teacher, and Business Professionals of America, and photojournalism.
Mr. Marquez went to college at California State University, also known as Chico, where he double majored in Business Administration and Project Management. Mr. Marquez is currently enrolled in UAS working on getting his Masters of Arts in teaching, which allows him to receive a teaching certificate in the state of Alaska. When going from Unalaska to California after high school he was scared, especially since he was going from a school with 120 students to a university with over 17,000 students. Eventually, he began to adjust and made friends within his dorm and campus.
Mr. Marquez returned to Unalaska at the beginning of 2019 to gain more work experience. After graduating from Chico State he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Although he was looking for jobs and was offered jobs in sales as well as financial advising. “None of them really excited me,” said Mr. Marquez. A month after his return to Unalaska, Mr. Marquez began to substitute and found that he really enjoyed teaching. After the substituting last school year, he was asked to fill in the Business Education position. He finds a lot of support in having teachers he grew up with him to help him transition into a new career. His chosen way to teach is to let the students take the wheel, then guide and assist them when needed. This allows Mr. Marquez to see and develop the creative abilities that the students possess.
His favorite success was graduating college because it was a long road and he was all on his own without having a support group close to him and it took a lot of effort and work in order to graduate. He really appreciates the fact that he was able to receive a really good education in high school and college. After his long journey in California, he is glad to be back in Unalaska to pursue a career that he never expected to find himself in. The Unalaska community is happy to have a previous graduate from Unalaska City School to be teaching. As someone who has grown up in the same environment as the students, he knows what the students will need and is prepared to provide.