Ms. Geary Morris’ career history certainly doesn’t follow the typical response you’d expect from a teacher. However, For Morris, a 9th grade English and 12th grade IB SL teacher at Meridian, education is just one of the many career fields she’s worked in. 

Her first job after college was as a communications assistant at the Society of Human Resource Management. From there, she worked for the International Bottled Water Association, and then in Marriott public relations. Morris then put herself through graduate school to get her NBA and switched to IT Services. 

Morris decided to put her professional life on hold for a bit to prioritize her children and became a stay-at-home mom. Even as a full-time stay-at-home parent, she managed to become an election official, volunteer worker, PTA member, and room parent to get more involved with her kids’ lives. Once her children were older, she desired to continue working but wanted to pursue a different career that fit her lifestyle at the time, meaning not as much travel and more time off. 

“I tried substituting and realized that I really enjoyed that,” she said and went on to mention that she’s substituted at FCHS, Vienna, and FCCPS which to her is “a short list, but wonderful.” 

While Morris had initial worries about pursuing her teaching career, she remarked that “you can start anything and not be nervous, anything new–I would say maybe that you don’t have a pulse if that’s the case.” Due to her experience in many fields of work, she’s mastered starting new things and taking on new challenges. She uses her previous experience substituting to help her teach and has found comfort in the other teachers at Meridian. 

Morris’ ability to adapt to new environments and situations is also in part due to her childhood. Growing up, she moved often and has lived all over the US. She credits this experience with different schools with allowing her to quickly adapt to our new grading system, which differs from other schools. 

Morris appreciates the simplicity of the school’s 80/20 grading system because it encourages practice. “Teachers don’t give formatives to make work, we give them to reinforce what we’re teaching in the classroom,” Morris said. 

She has enjoyed her year at Meridian so far, especially the staff, administration, and students here. Her aim is to have the students enjoy her classes as much as she enjoys teaching them. “When I was thinking about teaching I really went back to the teachers that meant a lot to me,” Morris remarked, citing her 8th grade math teacher who inspired her teaching style and methods. “He was quirky, unusual, he enjoyed his job and it showed, and he made me like math,” she said.  

Morris has experience in many fields of work, career paths, school, and with children. She’s used everything she’s learned both in school and her professional life to develop who she is as a person which has resulted in her choice to become a teacher. All of her careers have all led her back full circle to where she started, the classroom.