‘Our diversity bonds us’: Meet KCK’s Whitney Morgan, Kansas Teacher of the Year
Kansas’ 2019 Teacher of the Year grew up — and still works — close to home.
The Kansas City, Kansas, School District’s Whitney Morgan was named Kansas Teacher of the Year last month, and will spend the next year traveling the state as an education ambassador.
The Star recently caught up with the Shawnee Mission West and Kansas State University graduate, who has taught English and ESOL at Wyandotte High School since 2013.
Q: What drew you to teaching?
I’m not so sure that I chose teaching as much as teaching chose me. I’ve felt called to teaching ever since I was a young child. I am drawn to settings full of questions, stories and ideas. It is an honor to be a part of a human-centered profession where each day is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the life of another.
Q: Tell us what you teach at Wyandotte High School, and what is your favorite lesson plan or unit?
I teach English Language Arts and English for Speakers of Other Languages. My courses emphasize cross-cultural communication, collaboration and connections to students’ prior knowledge and experiences. No matter what unit or lesson I am teaching, I strive to put student exploration, inquiry and ownership at the center.
Q: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
There is no greater joy than being able to come beside someone in their life to be a positive influence and support along their path. I feel most rewarded when my students flourish and grow toward their own unique sense of self.
Q: What’s the most significant challenge you’ve encountered as a teacher, and how did you overcome it?
The enormity of decisions and responsibilities that a teacher faces in any given day can be overwhelming. Finding a rhythm of work and rest that is sustainable is a continuous challenge for me. There is a lot to be said for teachers embracing self-care. Part of taking care of myself is recognizing that no teacher is meant to do this craft alone, and it’s okay to advocate for systemic change where needed. We are stronger together.
Q: How has your approach to teaching changed from when you first started until now?
In the beginning, I worked on building relationships with individual students. I now know that fostering relationships among students and the community at large is just as vital of a foundation for learning. So I now strive to empower a broader sense of community in addition to my individual relationships with students.
Q: What is a challenge facing teachers that you think Kansans would be surprised to learn?
I don’t know that I can answer this question at this point in my journey. As Kansas Teacher of the Year, I will get the opportunity to lead and serve by listening. As such, I hope to be able to better speak to this question after hearing the voices around the state.
Q: What do you think is the key to motivating students to be engaged in school?
I have two responses to this question. The first highlights practices that have been fruitful for me: focusing on equity of voice in the classroom, explicitly naming transferable skills, providing authentic audiences, allowing student choice, and leveraging individual student strengths and passions.
The second is simpler. All people engage when they feel fully known, seen and heard. While strong strategies and instructional moves in the classroom help engage students, I believe the key to motivating students is fully embracing each student as a vital part of your classroom community.
Q: If a first-year teacher came to you for advice, what would you tell them?
I would tell a first-year teacher the words that I hope each student in my classroom also hears: You matter and you are not alone.
Q: What does being Kansas Teacher of the year means to you, and what do you hope to accomplish?
To me, being Kansas Teacher of the Year is an opportunity to serve as a representative for teachers, advocate for students, and ambassador for education. I take with me the charge that my students have given me: to engage with individual stories, promote a broader community, and never stop learning.
With students from over a dozen different nations, I teach in an international classroom in the heart of our nation that constantly reinforces what true community looks like. My students know that in order to take the social risks that learning requires, we must first, collectively take care of one another.
When so much rhetoric in our world highlights what divides us, my students model a world where our diversity bonds us. I hope to empower community as the key to progress. Let’s reimagine our age of information and individualism.
