OTSEGO, Mich. — Our next Teacher of the Week said the surprise could not have come at a better time.
We stopped by Dix Street Elementary School in Otsego to surprise Brittany Morrow. She said, “I feel so special. I mean, I can’t believe this. Honestly, I’m so surprised. I was having a really rough week. So, this has been amazing.”
Born and raised in the Kalamazoo area with a degree in special education from Central Michigan University, Morrow is now a first grade teacher at Dix Street Elementary.
“I did my first year in kindergarten. Then, I did five years in first grade and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” said Morrow, who described Dix Street as “a family and anybody that you ask around here, we will all say that.”
In fact, that’s exactly what Dix Street Elementary School principal Mark VanderKlok said.
“Yeah, we actually consider each other a big family here at Dix Street Elementary,” he said.
“We all do everything for each other. We treat each other like family. We act like our kids are our kids and our family is our classroom and our staff is a family, as well,” said Morrow.
The principal said that sense of family “trickles all the way down to how we see the kids and how we treat the kids. We see them as almost one of our own.”
In addition to being a big family, Dix Street staff are also really energetic book readers, as you’ll see in the video.
Morrow described the students as “a very busy group and they love to read and they love to talk to each other.”
“It was a surprise for them too just because we know how first graders are. It’s really hard for them to keep secrets,” said VanderKlok.
It was an exciting surprise for everyone.
“I could not believe it. I’m so excited. There are so many amazing teachers that I work with, I can’t believe it was me out of everybody else. So, I’m just really honored,” said Morrow.
If you have someone you’d like to nominate as our next Teacher of the Week, just text the word “teacher” to 616-559-1310.
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