Unlike the stereotypical history class, teacher Aaron Blain’s is full of excitement. When entering his room students are up and talking. A group of kids stands by the door talking about last night’s assignment and what they are doing after school. Another group sits on the desks whining about how much homework they have. Others sit on the floor munching on snacks and telling a funny story from their last class, with Blain talking alongside them. He enters their conversations not as a bland history teacher, but as a friend.

“I think it’s just part of my personality,” said Blain. “Every kid walks in here and they have their own unique personality and I hate the idea of a cookie cutter classroom. I wanna know what makes them tick, what they’re involved in. I love that side of teaching. Relationships with my students are just part of who I am, I want to get to know the kids.”

Not only is he always trying to connect with his students, during class Blain uses games and projects to engage students and get them up and moving. Blain doesn’t just try to connect to students, he uses games to get them up and moving. According to a study by North Carolina State University, students who have been taught using games and interactive activities have a higher test average by almost 10% than those who are taught with just notes and lectures.

“For me, playing games and doing fun activities and projects helps me learn the information and I score better when the test comes around,” said sophomore Ben Juhasz. “Mr. Blain always has something new for us each day we come in and it makes learning history enjoyable and interesting.”

He establishes strong relationships with many of his students by creating a fun and open atmosphere. He loves teaching and all the aspects that come with it.

“I love seeing a kid get it for the first time,” said Blain. “It’s a really cool thing. Kids don’t normally like history. So some kids, by the end of the semester, it’s become interesting to them. They are finally seeing this great evolution of ideas and they’re into it.”

Blain’s passion for teaching stems from his negative high school experience. For him high school was a dreaded chore that many of his peers couldn’t make it through.

“I went to a really tough high school where there was 300 kids that walked in freshman year and 113 graduated,” said Blain. “I was in a history class with my fellow classmates and they just didn’t get it. There was no connection to what was going on and I knew I had to do something about my friends dropping out. That’s when I knew I wanted to teach history.”

The harsh education he went through inspired him to make sure his students enjoy history. Like most teachers Blain is constantly evolving to better educate his students, many don’t know the amount of work he puts in to make sure they can comprehend history well.

“All the time I’m constantly learning and changing,” said Blain. “I look at my lessons and keep track of how many changes I’ve made and how many minutes I’ve spend on a lesson, and sometimes it’s around 3 or 4 hours of just changing and typing things.”

Overall, Blain just wants his students to learn. His methods of games and discussions may not be conventional, but they get results, and are actually fun.

“I want each student who walks into my classroom to leave knowing something they didn’t before,” said Blain. “That’s my goal.”