I want to help them transform their classrooms. If it can happen with me, it can happen with anybody.
As a math teacher at East Ridge High School three years ago, Christopher Morris was burnt out and so were his students.
“I had lost the passion,” Morris said. “And the kids weren’t looking forward to class.”
Morris began looking for ways to change the culture in his classroom, and decided to start holding a weekly awards ceremony to celebrate his students’ personalities, character and interests.
He named the ceremony the Math Morrissey Awards, and at random times throughout the week would jump into character as an awards show host and present a student with a brightly colored certificate while upbeat music played. During the presentation, Morris would highlight what the student did to earn the recognition, which ranged from picking up trash in the classroom to saying something kind to a classmate.