Henrico's Top Teachers – Laurie Morris

While most of her time is spent inside of a classroom now, Laurie Morris was not always a fan of school.

“I always struggled through school,” she said. “School wasn’t something that I was good at.”

She had thoughts of becoming an accountant or something within the business spectrum, but she couldn’t see a job crunching numbers behind a desk making her happy.

Now with with 13 years of teaching under her belt, Morris, who teaches math at Moody Middle School, is all about making sure her students feel valued and cared for both in and outside of her class – and also making math more fun.

“Ms. Morris impacts students’ lives every day. She stays close with her students inside and outside of her classroom. Her door is always open to help her students with anything, not just math,” one former student wrote in a nomination.

Morris credited her compassion for students to a teacher she had in middle school who made her feel important and who connected with her "like no other teacher had.”

Morris works hard to make sure she can convey those same feelings and connections to her own students. When students miss class, she makes a point to let them know that their presence was missed and that someone cares for them.

“They might not get that kind of appreciation from other adults in their life,” she said. “So I just try to make sure that they know if nothing else, when they come into Morris’ room, I’m excited that they’re there today.”

Math is not always the easiest subject to teach, and many students find it to be most difficult to learn, but Morris’s teaching method is something that separates her from others, according to nominators.

Not only does she make jokes to make math more fun for her students, she also makes sure to acknowledge and applaud students when they find something in math that they are good at. Doing so helps to build their confidence, she said.

“Kids will learn more if they feel like they matter and that they have someone in their corner to support them at all times,” she said.

The biggest reward for Morris as a teacher is seeing her students' success later on.