The Student News Site of The Morgan School

The Morgan PawPrint

The Student News Site of The Morgan School

The Morgan PawPrint

The Student News Site of The Morgan School

The Morgan PawPrint

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Welcoming New Faces Into The Morgan Family

Written By Ashlynn Leka and Lee Broderick |
Photos By Lee Broderick and Ashlynn Leka |

There are a couple teachers this year that are new to the Morgan staff. English teacher Kate Macquarrie is filling in for English teacher Paul Beckett who is home with his newborn baby boy.  Physical Education teacher Jessica Blodgett is filling in for Physical Education teacher Kate Iverson who is home with her newborn baby girl. There are also new part-time teachers this year at Morgan. Art teacher Justin Sylvia replaced Pam Neri who retired from The Morgan School last year.  We also have two teachers who teach during G period that work at Pierson Elementary School during the rest of the day: Spanish teacher Anna Recine and Art teacher Jessica Leiss.  Another teacher who works full time in the district but only parttime at Morgan is Health teacher Ryan Jalbert who teaches health G and F periods at Morgan.

Ms. Macquarrie is Morgan’s English substitute for Mr. Beckett. She attended Quinnipiac for 5 years and received two degrees, an undergraduate and masters degree: “I chose to be a teacher because I knew that the job I wanted, I wanted to work with kids. I’ve been a camp counselor before and at a daycare, so working with kids was one of my strong points, and when I was going through high school my teachers were my guiding lights.” Ms. MacQuarrie said, “I really want to be that for someone else.” Since it is her first job as a teacher in a high school, she is excited to find different ways to interact with students and get more experience being in a classroom.

Mrs. Blodgett teaches along the side of physical education teacher Pete Gersz. She has a degree from Eastern in a Sport and Lesuire Management. She said, “When I went out in the world and started working, I decided I wanted to come back and teach. I think that I would have more of an impact there so I went back to Central Connecticut State University to get my certification for teaching.” She chose to be a teacher because she wanted to “make an impact on our youth and the best way to do it is through health and physical education.” Ms. Blogit said, ” The experiences I had going through schools was great, and I wanted to share that with the students here”. While she is here, she is “looking forward to getting to know each and every student, their personalities and what they are interested in and what they believe that they can do.”

Spanish teacher Anna Recine is teaching Spanish during G period. She has a Bachelors of Arts degree from Fairfield University in Spanish Language and Culture and an education minor and Master of Science degree in Special Education from Southern Connecticut State University. She said, “I always played ‘teacher’ as a child and the desire to teach never went away. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and still love it. My first teaching assignment was at a high school, and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward teaching the big kids again for at least part of the day, after teaching at Pierson for so long.”

Mrs.Leiss is our new Art teacher working alongside Mr. Sylvia. She went to school at Southern Connecticut State University for 6 years and has her bachelor’s degree in Art Education and master’s degree in Special Education. She says “I chose to be a teacher because I have always had a passion for art and I wanted to share that with other people.  I enjoy teaching students about various art techniques and how to use different media. I am looking forward to watching my students’ abilities improve over the years and seeing the talent of high school-aged students.”

These teachers have become a part of The Morgan family. If you see any of these teachers in the hallway, remember to give them a smile!

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