Staff Member of the Month: Matthew Morrison

September’s Staff Member of the Month is Matthew Morrison, a history teacher who has spent his entire teaching career at FCHS.

“I didn’t always want to teach history,” said Morrison, “ but once I decided to go in that direction, I became committed to the field.” He attended Old Dominion University and received his Bachelor’s degree in History. He began his teaching career at FCHS, and has been here for the past 17 years.

When asked about his passion for history, Morrison said, “History has action, drama, romance, horror, inspiration, curiosities, and beauty.  It’s everything we are as human beings and I like to imagine myself getting into my hot tub time machine and experiencing life in another era.  It’s escapism for me and that’s why I love it.”

Morrison said his favorite thing about teaching is “being in the classroom with my kids discussing history…seeing a light come on inside a student when they finally put it together and the topic starts to make sense to them.”

Throughout the years he has had some strange experiences as a teacher. He said the weirdest thing occurred last year when his students gave him a tropical fish in the middle of class. “They delivered it in a plastic cup, which made it even more odd,” he said.  “I decided that in the best interest of the fish that I would have to decline such a kind offer.”

Morrison has also had the opportunity to take students to Europe on six different occasions, two as a chaperone and four as the group leader. He has gone to Paris, Nice, the French Riviera, Monaco, and Italy.

Update: To see the article about Morrison’s second Staff Member of the Month win this school year, go to https://theflucobeat.com/showcase/2018/05/10/matthew-morrison-the-man-the-myth-the-legend/