After 24 years at Providence Day, Dr. Grace Morris will soon teach her last Lower School music class and head off into a well-deserved retirement. I met with her in her classroom to talk about her career and what she plans to do next.
I was surprised to find Morris sitting on the floor with her shoes off and legs stretched out in front of her. I asked her about this, and she said simply that she likes sitting on the floor and doesn't keep chairs in her room anyway because they take up too much space. So, with her on the floor and me in a chair she borrowed from another room, I asked her about her life before she came to Providence Day.
Morris grew up in a military family, so she moved around frequently as a child, but eventually, they settled in Shelby, North Carolina, which is where she attended high school. She went to Appalachian State for her undergraduate degree and then to Northern Arizona University for her Masters in Music Education. Morris taught in public schools for eleven years before going to the University of Illinois for her doctorate.
After earning her EdD, Morris taught at Texas State University and was the head of music education. But after six years, she decided she wanted something different. "Even though I enjoyed working at the university, I really missed the kids." Her sister, Annette, who was teaching at Providence Day, was leaving to run the family business, and Morris applied for her position. "So, I took my sister's job," she laughed.
Morris said that coming to Providence Day was an interesting transition. Because of the student behavior at the public school that she worked for, she came to PD ready to be a disciplinarian. However, she quickly realized that the students were much different. "[I said to myself] Wow, you mean I can just teach? I don't need to be a referee?"
Morris said that the school at that time was much smaller. The plot of land where the Dickson-Hemby Technology Center, Academic Center, DeMayo Gateway, and Thompson-Jones Library now stand was just trees and the house of the then-Headmaster (which has since relocated and been re-named the Head of School's house) when she first started working as PD. Because parking was much tighter on campus, Morris had to park in the headmaster's driveway.
Despite the growth of the campus and population, Morris said that she has had the opportunity to work with just about all of the students, especially the ones who came to the school in Transitional Kindergarten. "The nice thing is that all of the lifers, I've taught them all."
Morris also enjoyed getting to know students through the school's musical productions. In her earlier years, she played the piano during the performances, but she said that this was a bit of a challenge for her. "I'm not a great pianist. I was a voice major who happened to be able to play the piano, but somebody needed to play." So, she was happy when the school brought in someone else to take over that role. "Then, I got demoted–thank you, I was very happy–to start playing what they call the second book, which is the easier book. And, when you do shows like Seussical, you get to play all the fun stuff, like one thing called 'elephant farts.' For Fiddler on the Roof, I got to play the accordion parts."
When PD started to hire professional musicians to play for the musicals, Morris was happy to step back. "I switched over, and now I costume the Middle School shows." Morris said she enjoyed that role because historical costuming is one of her hobbies (she is involved in performing historical reenactments from the Middle Ages for which she researches and creates clothing from that time). She said that she has done work for six of Middle School Theater teacher Jamie Hutteman's shows. "I really love working with her. She's such a good teacher and a fine, fine director."
When I asked how the school had changed during her time at PD, Morris paused and said that the school was obviously bigger, and, "It's a lot more diverse, which is great." She also talked about how the entire curriculum has grown to incorporate a more global perspective.
Morris then talked about her appreciation for the Providence Day administration and the way it keeps the school moving forwards in terms of curricular development. She said that one of the things she didn't like about working in public school is that it was "very fad-driven," meaning that the school leaders were always changing things to reflect whatever educational theory was popular at the time. The PD administration, on the other hand, has taken a more patient approach to change. "We're not fad-driven here, not at all. Sometimes it's hard [for an administration to let teachers] take the things we've been working on and let them settle a little bit, to let things percolate for a while, to gel, before introducing something new." Morris credits the school's leaders for taking this approach, which she said must be very hard and is one reason that she never wanted to be an administrator.
Over time, her department, which she calls her family, has grown as well. When she first came, there were only a few teachers and assistants in the Performing Arts Department. She has felt very close to the many colleagues she has worked with for many years. "One of the best things about this place (Providence Day) is that we all work in the same building. We all speak the same language [teaching the performing arts]. We really are a family."
As the conversation came to a close, I asked Morris about how she knew it was time to retire, and she said, "this was always the plan because I'm at the right age to retire. I like this place, I like my job, but after COVID, I'm tired." She laughed and said, so "[Once I'm retired], I plan to lay on the sofa and play with my cats." Morris says that she doesn't have any specific plans for her retirement, and that she wants to take at least a year to do nothing at all. "There's a bunch of home projects, you know, but nothing major. After a year or so, I'll start to do some volunteering and find places where I want to put my time."
