For Briana Morales — who was named Illinois Teacher of the Year last year — it was poetry that helped her cope.
Briana Morales addresses HEHS faculty members.
Morales returned to Hoffman Estates High School last week, not only as a proud 2013 alumna but as the outgoing Illinois Teacher of the Year. Morales addressed the faculty during their institute day, inspiring them with her personal story of overcoming obstacles and finding her passion as a teacher.
“Growing up, my own trajectory was molded by the caring hands of educators in my life — like every single one of you,” Morales said, “who knew me and made the intentional choice to love me anyway, through the many challenging times in my own life.
“Your critical care that was poured into me as a student has gone on to be the living example of my own teaching career,” she added, “what it truly means to show up for students and place relationships at the center of everything we do.”
But it all started with the poetry. Morales described some of the complex life changes she was dealing with at home, including a lot of trauma she experienced as a child. Yet her seventh grade English teacher at Eisenhower Junior High, Jen Steineke, encouraged her to write poetry as a way to cope. Morales wrote her first poetry book in that class and she has never stopped writing.
Faculty members listen to Morales’ powerful story.
In fact, Steineke accompanied Morales to Bloomington to receiver her award, which recognized Morales for her use of writing and poetry to help her students process poverty, personal loss and violence.
Morales now teaches high school English to students at Gordon Bush Alternative Center in East St. Louis, IL. She is only the second teacher at an alternative school to be named Illinois Teacher of the Year, in the 70 years of the award.
Her former faculty members learned Morales is a leader in trauma-informed education and feeling-centered engagement in the classroom. She is a school board member for the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, and has worked at the state level to advance diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Morales also started a nonprofit organization to mentor girls of color, which she calls Sisterhood of Hope. All this and she is currently pursuing her doctorate in diversity and equity at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She is doing research on caring relationships with teachers and students in subliminal spaces, and how they can advance new levels of student success.
Which explains why her passion lies in teaching students at alternative schools and in juvenile detention centers.
Morales with HEHS faculty members
“I teach all those kids who were expelled from their home school in my local area,’ Morales says. “I was one of them, though I never attended an alternative school.”
Her state title, she says, validates not only the value of caring, compassionate teachers, but in particular those who teach non-traditional students.
“It’s a huge statement from the state of Illinois to my students and their families,” Morales says, “that all of us are worth more than the worst thing that we’ve ever done. That every single kid deserves a quality, excellent teacher, who’s excited to see them every single day.”
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