Special education rarely makes headlines. The work happens in quiet classrooms, measured not in trophies but in a student tying their own shoes for the first time, or reading a word they couldn’t read yesterday. So when a teacher in that field is named Teacher of the Year in the largest public school district in Texas, it’s worth asking what she did differently.
Ralen Tupaz, a 35-year-old Filipina educator, would tell you she did the same thing she’d always done — she showed up for her students. But in 2025, that dedication earned her two honors from the Houston Independent School District: Campus Teacher of the Year and West Division Special Education Teacher of the Year. For an educator only three years into her life abroad, it was a striking arrival.
A classroom built on individual difference
Ralen teaches in a self-contained Life Skills classroom at Westside High School, where she works with students who have significant and diverse learning needs. Her days are built around individualized instruction — lessons adjusted for each student, strategies tailored to how each one learns, assessments designed to track progress that might look small to an outsider but means everything to the student making it.
“I believe every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed,” she shares with TGFM. It’s a line that could sound like a slogan in another teacher’s mouth, but for her it carries personal weight. She has a cousin with a hearing impairment, and grew up watching her grandmother and aunt, both teachers, give themselves to the profession. Special education wasn’t a job she stumbled into. It was a calling she recognized early.
The most rewarding part of the work, she says, is watching the change happen in real time. “The most rewarding part of my work is watching my students gain confidence, become more independent, and achieve goals. Their growth and determination inspire me every day.”
The sister who made it possible
Behind the recognition is a story that predates any classroom. Ralen’s parents passed away, and her older sister stepped into the space they left behind.
“After our parents passed away, my older sister became both my mother and father,” she recalls, “filling the role they left behind with endless love, guidance, and sacrifice.”
When Ralen shared her dream of working abroad, her sister didn’t just encourage her — she helped fund it. That faith became the foundation for everything that followed. “Her unwavering faith in me gave me the confidence to pursue my dream,” she says, “and every achievement I have accomplished is a testament to the sacrifices she made.”
It reframes the awards. The recognition in Houston isn’t only hers; it belongs to a household in the Philippines that decided one member’s ambition was worth everything.
Twelve years, two countries, one focus
Ralen’s path abroad wasn’t a leap so much as a long, deliberate walk. She began teaching in the Philippines in 2013 as an elementary English teacher. By 2014 she had moved into Special Education, working in a self-contained classroom until 2016, then rotating through inclusive English teaching and co-teaching roles that partnered her with general education teachers to support students with disabilities.
Outside her paid work, she volunteered for years with Best Buddies Philippines and taught functional academics and daily living skills to children with special needs through a community program at the University of the Philippines campus. The volunteering wasn’t a résumé line. “I have always been passionate about volunteering to support individuals with special needs,” she says, and that thread — inclusion, patience, the belief that everyone can grow — runs unbroken from Manila to Houston.
She moved to the United States in 2022, her first job overseas after nearly a decade in Philippine classrooms.
That first year abroad was harder than the awards suggest. Adapting to a new culture while managing unfamiliar classroom expectations tested her. What carried her through was a support system that formed quickly: supportive American colleagues, and a community of fellow Filipinos who “generously shared their advice and experiences” and became some of her closest friends. She leaned, too, on her faith, her sister, and the man who was then her boyfriend and is now her husband.
Carrying the flag forward
Ralen sees her success as bigger than herself. “As a Filipino educator working abroad, I take great pride in demonstrating that when we work hard, remain committed to our profession, and give our best, Filipinos can earn recognition and make a meaningful impact even in a foreign land.”
She isn’t finished. She plans to return to her master’s studies, and she remains committed to advocating for inclusive education and programs that build academic and life skills for individuals with special needs. In 2026 she joins HISD’s Teacher Leader Academy, a step toward leading beyond her own classroom.
For kababayans facing hard days overseas, her advice is grounded in what she lived: stay patient, manage your finances and relationships wisely, and hold onto the reason you left home in the first place. “Take care of yourself, be compassionate with yourself, and lean on your faith and support system to stay balanced along the way.”
It’s the counsel of someone who arrived overwhelmed and, three years later, stood at the front of the largest district in Texas — recognized not despite where she came from, but as proof of what it produces.
