Whitley and Dan Morse are educators in Grand Rapids Public Schools, Whitley as a teacher at Ottawa Hills High School and Dan as principal of North Park MontFessori Academy. They were recently honored as alumni of Davenport University’s College of Urban Education. Today on “Study Hall” from School News Network, they talk about why they’re committed to serving students in urban schools, and the challenges and rewards of that work.
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Full Transcript:
Charlie Honey: Hello everyone and welcome to study hall from school news network your window into the public schools of Kent County Michigan and a special welcome to our listeners at WGVU.I'm your host Charlie Honey and today we're at Ottawa Hills High School to talk about the unique challenges and plentiful rewards of educating students in urban settings.Here to shed light on those challenges and rewards are two highly respected veteran educators in GRPS.Dan and Whitley Morse are a married couple who serve students in complimentary roles. Dan as principal of North Park Montessori Academy and Whitley as a social studies teacher at Ottawa Hills High. Dan and Whitley both earned master's degrees from Davenport University's College of Urban Education, the only university college in Michigan dedicated entirely to urban education. They were recently honored by Davenport with its College of Urban Education Alumni Award for their professional accomplishments,leadership and dedication to the profession. Congratulations, Dan and Whitley.I'm wondering what led you to enroll in this program and why you're so passionate about serving students in urban schools, Whitley.
Whitley Morse: Thanks for having us.I think for me, I had a beautiful education experience at Grand Valley.But what I was really missing once I was in education was a little bit more targeted content, right? Because in Grand Valley, have…it’s covering everybody. It's teaching you how to be a teacher, period, when there are different skills and different strategies that could work better could work differently in other spaces and Davenport really brought that urban ed to the forefront
CH: Dan?
Dan Morse: Yeah, very similarly like a lot of the content areas that we talked about within the Davenport program helped prepare me like mine, when I wasteaching at the time I worked at a school that had a high population of English language learners, so that was not a an area that I knew a lot about at the time. So that really helped prepare me for that um separately. just really
made some great connections with colleagues both here in Grand Rapids Public Schools and with Davenport of having a great network of folks that we could call uh in a moment's notice for, “I need your advice on this, what do you think?”
CH: You were at Innovation Central at the time?
DM: At the time, yeah, Innovation Central. Yeah,yeah.
CH: Where you taught social studies?
DM: Right
CH: So, Whitley, you mentioned the sort of the differences.How do you think this program really helped you work in the urban setting and what are some of the...special challenges or needs that your students have that are kind of unique.
WM: Davenport, we took a variety of classes.One was about community building. And I think that one highlighted how do we tap the resources we have within our county, within our city, that some we were aware of, some were brand new to us. So that was really helpful in helping to meet some of those gaps when we're trying to educate the whole child. We had law classes, technology classes, all of these different things, really tailored and focused on what our students need, because whether it iswhether they're bringing um some language deficit, some additional languages, not only how to help meet those gaps, but also how to highlight and to celebrate those differences.Because yes, we can look at them as challenges, which they are sometimes.bring a whole lot of, and our students with their differences bring a whole lot of goodness into the space as well.
CH: So, what would you say some of the greatest rewards that you've gotten from teaching in these urban schools, Dan?
DM: Okay, so I'm a principal now at North Park Montessori. So, when I was a teacher, um I've had some former students of mine come and substitute teach in my school. Okay, and so that has been easily like the people. So to answer your question, what's the biggest reward? It's the people and the connections that we had. I often talk about like my favorite night every year is graduation night because you see like this pinnacle of, you know,it's not just the student scholar who's been working for it. It's their family in the stands too and it's all the it’s all their peers in this in the stands too. So it's just, that has got to bethe biggest reason for why we do what we do. It's the peopleand then the returning of that investment to see the smiles of their face. Somebody came to our schoolto work with fourth, fifth and sixth graders all day and they were nervous. Oh my gosh, my old teacher is here. And I was just like, thank you, please. Otherwise I would be in this classroom teaching today. So, thank you so much here's a Jolly Rancher.
CH: What's rewarding for you, Whitley?
WM: I think it’s…holding on to some of those connections being at the secondary level right we have graduationDifferent students we've stayed connected through social media We've been able to pull in kids to come do career days here at Ottawa who have now gone and are living their livesSo some of it is the academic piece, but some of it's just the personal I got a call recently from a young lady who was having her first babyand was inviting me to her baby shower and it's just like those little things where then she sent me after the baby shower a cute little video of her sweet new baby all wrapped up and carrying and I'm like, oh,it's those little connections that you make in those relationships you want to grow and then it's a whole other level when you have siblings and kids of former kids.Yeah, that familiar part and it just it feels it makes you feel connected to the community in which you work and live.
CH: You do work and live in Grand Rapids.
WM: We do.
CH: And you have a daughter at the Montessori Academy where you're the principal, and you're committed to urban education. I think there is a public perception in some quarters that's somewhat negative about urban schools. [They say] there's a lot of problems there, behavior problems and so forth. What would you like these listeners to know about the students you work with and what they bring to your classrooms?
WM: I think I have been really fortunate to have this partnership with the Grand Rapids Bar in which lawyers and judges come into my classroom to teach kids about the Constitution. And we always have an orientation at the beginning of the year with these folks, which I feel a little like I'm teaching judges and lawyers things, right? But here we go.But it’s these misconceptions that they're bringing, and then by the end of it, the relationships that they've built with the kids, and their misconceptions, and them having to address those misconceptions of, I thought this is what this was going to be like. And I'm always like, invite, tell your colleagues. And we've had folks join because they think it's one thing. But kids are kids. They want to learn. They want to grow.And come on in. Volunteer at your local school and come meet these kids. And they're going to be so excited to get to know you.
CH: Well, as a parent of two GRPS grads, I can only agree with you very strongly. Thanks to both of you for joining us.Thanks to our listeners at WGVU.And to hear the full version of this podcast, go to schoolnewsnetwork.org and click on podcasts.Or you can find it wherever you get your podcasts.Until next time, happy studying. Thanks.
