Every year, there are new teachers that come to Morgan and acclimate to their new classrooms and students. One of the new teachers this year is chemistry teacher Alexandra Patterson.

Mrs. Patterson previously taught at Farmington High School. Although she enjoyed teaching there, she does appreciate the nice facilities that we have at Morgan and the nice treatment she received from Morgan staff and students.

Mrs. Patterson graduated from Old Saybrook High School in 2008, and from there, she went to Northeastern University before transferring to UConn. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Science and Chemistry in 2011. Later she went to CCSU and earned a masters in teaching. In 2017, she went back to school and earned a master’s degree in chemistry from The University of St. Josephs.

Before she wanted to become a teacher, she wanted to go into pharmaceuticals and work in chemistry, but later she switched to teaching because of how isolating it can be to work in a lab. She said, “I really wanted something where I could interact with people, so I thought teaching would be a great fit where I could interact with students”.

Mrs. Patterson not only has to acclimate to the new environment here at Morgan, but she also has to adapt to the new COVID-19 protocols in place. She said, “It makes it more difficult because I only have half of the number of students here. My normal classroom is

very collaborative, and I have students working in groups of three and four.” Mrs. Patterson emphasized the challenges of teaching in the hybrid model. She said, “It has made it really difficult for student to student interactions in the way I would normally run my class.”

One of Mrs. Patterson’s new students, junior Maddie Davenport said, “I really like Mrs. Patterson.” Maddie also said, “She’s very flexible with finding new ways to help you understand.” Mrs. Patterson may be new, but some students feel like she has been here for a long time. According to Maddie,“It feels like she has been here for a while.”

Another one of Mrs. Patterson’s students, Cole Hornyak said, “Mrs. Patterson seems like a really nice teacher, I think she’s a good fit.” Mrs. Patterson has been able to gain many students’ favor throughout the first few weeks of the school year.

Mrs. Patterson provided a message to the Morgan students: “I hope that they find this to be a safe place.” She also said, “I hope that they feel safe physically and emotionally supported as well, within the classroom”.