Spotlight: Rory Inouye (HI '23)

Inspired by his parents who served as educators in their local community, Rory Inouye witnessed the impact teachers had on their students and the meaningful relationships that formed as a result. Now a Milken Award recipient, he hopes to motivate young people to pursue education as a career. He created a scholarship using part of his Award money to help Waiakea High School seniors pursue their dreams of becoming educators. “Teaching is one of the most rewarding professions anyone could get into. It is challenging and stressful, but at the end of the day, the impact you are making is undeniable.” Rory received a 2023-24 Hawaii Milken Educator Award in Hilo on April 9, 2024.

Milken Family Foundation: How have students responded since your Milken Educator Award surprise?

Rory Inouye (HI '23): Since my surprise Award, the students have been amazing. I will hear students say, “That is why he is a Milken Educator Awardee,” after class. One student confided in me that he only started to consistently come to school because he enjoyed my class and that I deserve the Award. Students that I previously taught will stop by my classroom to congratulate me and tell me how deserving I am. The best response I have gotten so far was when a student asked me, “Why are you still eating leftovers for lunch? You are rich now!” 

MFF: Who are your role models as an educator?

Inouye: I have been lucky to have a few role models throughout my life. Both of my parents are the reason I wanted to become an educator. My dad was an agriculture high school teacher and my mom taught preschool for over 25 years. I saw the impact they made on our community and the relationships they made when we would see their former students around town. Another role model was my 10th grade math teacher Gordon Mau. He was also my baseball coach and someone that I still golf with during the summer. He has taught me a lot about life and it is funny because I am now in his old classroom, teaching math, and I used to be the baseball coach. 
 
During my senior year of high school, I realized I wanted to be a math teacher. I remember loving Algebra I in eighth grade. I thought math was just following the same rules over and over and I would come up with the correct answer. As I got to high school, math got a lot more challenging. Those rules became more complex and I did not understand why they worked. This led me to struggle throughout my four years in high school. I wanted to create a more positive math experience for the students attending my own alma mater. The goal has always been to come back to Waiakea High School and allow students to not be afraid of math. 

MFF: Tell us about your first year of teaching. 

Inouye: My first year of teaching was sixth grade at Waiakea Intermediate School. I remember looking at the textbook for adding integers and thinking, “How do I make this simpler than just having them do practice problems?” I was being the teacher that I grew up having and it took me a few years to understand how I wanted to make math different for my students. For that exact concept, I now use a number line and algebra tiles to show students balance pairs. We use manipulatives and build their conceptual understanding before we get to the practice problems.
 
Annie Kitamura is someone who made a big impact during my first year of teaching. She was the seventh grade math teacher and was so supportive. Through my classroom management questions, math questions, and random life questions, she always made time for me. Without her support, I would not be where I am today.

MFF: What do you hope students remember from their time with you?

Inouye: There are a few things that I hope my students remember. I hope they remember that math does not have to be so scary. There will be math that they don’t remember and much of the math they learn throughout school may not be useful to them. However, they were given enough knowledge to understand what problems need to be solved and can go look up the math needed to solve them. I hope they remember the creative activities they did in class and how they used math to display their understanding. Most of all, I hope they remember their time in my freshman algebra I class and how it has helped set them up for success throughout high school. 

MFF: You believe in student-led learning and root your classroom in higher-order thinking and problem-solving. What role do students play in driving their own learning experiences in your classroom and what benefits have you seen? 

Inouye:I like to spiral my math skills. That means, we will teach a certain math skill at a basic level and slowly increase that level of difficulty while incorporating it in many different algebra I concepts. This way, students get to see how that one skill is used in multiple ways and they get to think flexibly about that skill.   
 
I like to find ways students can be creative to demonstrate their understanding. Algebra I students use their linear function understandings to create a house on Desmos. This pushes students to recall positive or negative slopes and also how the “y”-intercept changes the line they want. I then print out their house on sticker paper and present them their project for them to take home. In my precalculus class, I have them make one-inch circle magnets using all the math they learned in their previous math class. Students are also encouraged to go out and find equations they haven’t even been taught yet to find a line they want to use. I print out their decoration and we put it together as a DIY magnet they get to take home and keep forever. 
 
These are just some examples of how I allow my students to think deeply about the math they learned. Students take the initiative and explore math on their own. I would like to think that their math experience is a positive one. 

MFF: In addition to teaching, you are involved in various leadership roles at WHS, including the WHS Freshman Academy and advising Homecoming. How do these roles complement your teaching practice? 

Inouye:I am an active member in the Freshman Academy. I was head facilitator from 2016–20 and currently lead our Freshman Academy Advisory board that brings in community members, administrators from our feeder schools and members from our career academies. As one of the teachers who developed our Freshman Academy 20-year pre-union, I encourage freshman students to look into their future career and pretend that they are returning for their reunion. They get to share how their life has changed since high school and look at their potential future career and life paths after graduation. 

I am also an advisor for the Leo Club which is in coordination with our community service club, Waiakea Lions Club. We have over 100 student members who participate in various community service projects throughout the school year. 

Like many of the teachers on campus, I help with Homecoming activities, chaperone dances, and help with various class activities. Being an alumnus of Waiakea High School, I understand how special these moments are for the students. It is also a great chance to see the students in a different setting. These moments strengthen our student-teacher relationships. These are the kinds of memories the students remember when they graduate from high school. 

MFF: What advice would you share with people who are interested in becoming teachers?

Inouye: Teaching is one of the most rewarding professions anyone could get into. It is challenging and stressful but at the end of the day, the impact you are making is undeniable. If you can impact just one student and allow that student to be successful and create a life for themselves, there is no better reward than that. It is also an amazing family job. Teaching allows me to spend time with my family and take care of the ones I love most. 

MFF: Are you working on any interesting initiatives or new projects these days? Is there anything else you want to share about your school? 

Inouye: I am currently working on supporting future teachers. I have gone to our 11th and 12th grade future teachers’ classes and talked with them about the profession. With my Award money, I am starting a small scholarship for future teachers graduating from Waiakea High School. Hopefully this brings more awareness to younger students who may be on the fence of pursuing education as their career. I have also started a teacher Instagram page to highlight the cool activities we do in math class. Hopefully it inspires a current teacher with some ideas on how they can create a math experience for their students, or maybe a former student will see my post in the future and decide they want to become a math teacher. These are the things I am currently working on to help future educators. 

Watch our interview with Rory Inouye (HI '23) on the day of his Milken Award notification: