The Matter of Heart (MOH) is a celebration for students and staff. Renton staff are invited to nominate a student who has stood out for one or more many outstanding reasons. Students are picked based on their participation, perseverance, compassion, empathy, resiliency, empathy, dedication, and being part of an all-around amazing RHS student body. In turn, our students nominate teachers for the Staff MOH award and explain why they think it is deserved.  

Mr. Puga 

Activities they’ve been involved in – N/A 

What grade they teach – 9th and 10th grade 

What subject they teach – Language Arts 

How many years they’ve been here – 1 year

Mr. Puga said he became a teacher because he felt as if there were not enough teachers of color in the workplace or in a lot of professional places. He also wanted to work in a diverse group of young individuals. No better place to do that than Renton High School. Mr. Puga thinks being caring and working on self-improvement is the key to teaching. Mr. Puga said, “If you don’t show the people you work with every day that you care, there is no point in becoming a teacher.” Sometimes, we don’t remember exactly what we learned in high school, but we do remember who was there for us and who cared for us throughout our years of high school. He wanted to have that positive influence on students’ lives. As a new teacher, Mr. Puga was surprised that he was nominated because he had expected returning teachers to get nominated. He said, “I didn’t really care for it until I was picked. That actually felt really really nice.” 

Mr Okimoto

Activities they’ve been involved in – Green team for 10+ years, Assistant coach for girls varsity soccer for the past 3 years 

What grade they teach – 9th grade 

What subject they teach – Language Arts 

How many years they’ve been here – 19 years 

Mr. Okimoto became a teacher because he wanted to do something that involved helping and working with other people. He loves learning and he wants others to love learning as well. Mr. Okimoto also believes that it is important to be caring and work on self-improvement. Mr. Okimoto said, “Life is scary and
complicated and we all need help along the way. You don’t become successful entirely by yourself. Along the way you do receive help in some way.” Mr. Okimoto was nominated because when he realizes he is wrong, he will apologize for any mistakes no matter who is around. Also, he is very funny and not afraid to be himself and brighten up your day. What helped him evolve at RHS was focusing on family history and connecting with his family experiences during World War II since he’s a Japanese descendant. He shares his family’s history with his students in an engaging way to learn about other people’s cultures and pasts.

Ms. Spitznas 

Activities they’ve been involved in – Math Club 

What grade they teach – 9th-12th grade 

What subject they teach – Algebra 2, bridge to college to math How many years they’ve been here – 7 years

Ms. Spitznas became a teacher because a teacher told her she would be a good teacher and because she always helped others in math class. Ms. Spitznas thinks it’s important to be caring and work on self-improvement because it makes the world a better place and it makes life seem less scary. She wants her room to be your special place where you aren’t afraid to be yourself and where you feel safe to come to her with anything. Ms. Spitznas feels like she was nominated for being “Mama bear.” Ms. Spitznas said, “I feel like ever since I became a mom, my perspective has changed towards my students. I care for my students as I would my own kids. I realize what we go through through my kids as a mom and not just from a teacher’s perspective.” She has the supplies a mom would have for her kids. For example, she has tampons, pads, water cups, wet wipes, masks, and granola bars. Ms. Spitznas feels like it is an honor to be nominated for Matter of Heart because she has seen other teachers over the years get nominated and getting appreciated for their hard caring work, so it feels good to be a part of that. 

Ms. Hernandez 

No comment!!!!

Students who won Matter of Heart

Salman Abdi 

Emilio Abrego Jr 

Isabella Alaniz-puentes 

Brandy Alavez-Romero 

Sueda Ali 

Inaam Ali 

Sophia Arellano 

Jose Avalos-Alfaro 

Charlemagne Bongato 

Luca Bradford 

Abner Cantor-Villatoro 

Diego Carrillo Guarchaj

Donovan

Chapackdee Jimmy

Chen 

Rockwell Danao 

Mark Dang 

Antonio Delgado 

Aicha Diaby 

Janiya Diaz 

Mahamadou

Drammeh Hawa

Dukureh 

Shingo Evamoto 

Laura Y Garcia Ramirez

Ta’mya Griffin 

Sokhnafaty Gueye 

Oliver Gutama 

Mustafa

Hajimohamed Najmun

haliem Tahir Daniya

Hassan 

Jessica Hernandez Pascual

Giovanni Hernandez Tiv

AJ Hoffman 

Gavin Jenkins 

Reynellie Juste 

Lidya Kedanemariam

Ai Chau Lam 

Luz Leguizamon 

Trishaunie Lewis 

Louise Lluisma 

Diana Lopez 

Luka Martinez 

Nelly Montes Gonzalez

Myranda Moran 

Josiah Munoz 

Han Ngo 

Evan Nguyen 

Huy Nguyen 

Finn Ogden 

Hana Okimoto 

Jorge Orozco 

Justine Pantig-Ball 

Paul Pho 

Skyler Rapoza 

Analisa Ruiz 

Julissa Runninghawk

Daniel Salcedo

Arrendondo An San 

Obet Sanchez Contreras

Anely

SantaMaria-Miranda

Gerald Scott Jr 

Aissa Sesay 

Elijah Spear 

Carlos Tamayo

Trujillo Hannah Tan 

Malkiel Townsend 

Jimmy Tran 

Genaro Vargas Jr 

Kelsey Vazquez 

Anouvin

Vinkhampraseuth Tori

Watson 

Adrianna Wiley 

Allayah Williams

Shyanne York

It’s important to recognize the efforts students and teachers have made here at RHS. Through the Matter of Heart awards, we are able to do just that. Thank you and congratulations to this year’s winners of Matter of Heart for making RHS a better place. Here’s to another great year of outstanding RHS students and teachers!