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Written by David Chittenden |

Morgan has many teachers who have been teaching for a long time, more than twenty-five years to be exact! They are the few who have seen Morgan’s changes since they started their tenures. I asked them how they thought Morgan has changed since they started teaching here.

Some told me about how the building itself has changed. Mr. Enoch and Mr. Cole reminisced together about the different configuration of the shop rooms downstairs; they mentioned that the parking lot used to be much different, and there used to be a stage in the cafeteria instead of the wall where the TV is now. Mr. Enoch remembers the 15 minute break in the schedule every day after second period when clubs would meet and students could relax. The courtyard next to the history wing used to be the smoker’s courtyard, long since gone. The new library was built and the main office relocated to the front lobby. Mr. Smith remembers the incident in his first year when the auditorium prop room caught on fire, forcing firefighters to knock down the wall to let out the smoke. Mr. Redes’ comment on the building was: “There’s a couple more leaks.”

Other teachers talked about the purpose of the school. Mrs. O’Brien said that there is a shift from old school to more of an attempt to see the whole student. There is more of a look at school climate and technology skills whereas it used to be only on academics. Mr. Serenbetz told me the change he sees in teaching. He presented the image of walking down the hall with the principal twenty five years ago; if they looked in and saw a teacher at the front of the room lecturing, he and the principal would think the teacher was doing a wonderful job. Now, he said, that would be against what the school wants: “The focus used to be on teaching, now it’s on learning.”

The last general idea that the teachers shared is about the students. Many people believe that the students today are completely different from when our long timers began teaching. Our long timers however believe that the students are still the same. They haven’t changed as much as people think. There are more clubs than ever and more student involvement. Contrary to what many people outside Morgan believe, modern Morgan students are just as good as those who attended years ago.

Our Morgan long timers are a treasure to the school. They have so much wisdom and experience. They love the students and are always looking to help us get better at anything. I learned a vast amount of cool information just by asking my one question. I’m glad to have met and been taught by this group of amazing people.