Tupy thrilled for chance to student teach in New Prague
There are plenty of places Hallie Tupy could earn a living after she graduates from college this spring. Her first choice is a classroom, preferably in her hometown.
The New Prague High School graduate, Class of 2022, is student teaching this semester in Jenn Larson’s kindergarten classroom at Raven Stream Elementary School. A senior at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, she expects to graduate this spring. Tupy has advanced from observing Larson’s teaching style and lessons to writing lesson plans for kindergarten students. She’s able to help students who are not enjoying their best day of learning and can even lead the class when Larson needs to step into the hallway to address an issue. She has also participated in parent-teacher conferences, meeting many of the parents of children she’s helping to teach each day.
“Having a student teacher and a high school helper is an opportunity that benefits both the classroom teacher and the students,” Larson said. “An extra set of hands and eyes while the student teacher is in the classroom allows for more individual support and more personalized attention for the students.”
The daughter of Lu and John Tupy, Hallie was a student of kindergarten teacher Mrs. Wetschka many years ago at St. Wenceslaus Catholic School in New Prague. She attended St. Wenceslaus through eighth grade. Tupy remembers all her best teachers and wants to be at least as good an educator as they were. Teaching was pretty much the only career she pursued. With her mom operating a daycare, Hallie was accustomed to...
To see more on this story pick up the March 19, 2026 print edition of The New Prague Times.