Due to the opening of East Forsyth High School, many students and staff members left North Forsyth High School. With so many teaching slots open for the 2021-2022 school year, North hired new educators to fill in the vacant gaps. Laura Morrison is one of the many new staff members to North, and like everyone else, she is eager to see what the year has in store for her! Morrison is starting her twenty-fourth year of teaching. She previously taught at North Hall High School for 15 years. 

Morrison teaches the Food Nutrition & Wellness Pathway and has a bachelor’s degree in Family Consumer Sciences and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. When asked if she has taught any other subjects besides Food Nutrition & Wellness, she replied, “I have taught an interior design class. Before that, I taught the Family Consumer Sciences class. That class changed into the Food Nutrition & Wellness class that I teach today.” 

The Family Consumer Sciences class had four units, including: learning interior design, managing finances, understanding child development and grasping food nutrition. When the course changed, it specifically honed in on food nutrition and eliminated the other three units. The wellness portion of the class replaced those units. Now, students study food nutrition during first semester, and practice wellness during second semester.

Born and raised in Middle Georgia, Morrison attended both Georgia Southern University and the University of North Georgia. After college, Morrison went straight into teaching. She also commented on what drew her into teaching. “I thought about being an interior designer for a long time. Instead, I decided that teaching would be more fun than sticking in one area. It ended up working out because one of the schools I taught at had an interior design pathway.” Morrison likes having a diverse range of teaching options.

Morrison enjoys seeing how freshmen mature into seniors. “Starting high school, these kids are not ready for the real world, but over the next few years, and through their personal learning experiences, they become ready. They may not think they are ready, but they are.”  

Outside of school, Morrison loves gardening, baking, painting and photography. Her favorite medium is acrylic, and she enjoys creating abstract and modern art. Morrison prefers baking over cooking because it is “more of an art and a science than cooking.” She likes that aspect very much. Some of her favorite foods to bake are cheesecake, pumpkin bread and zucchini bread.

One of the main reasons Morrison decided to come to North is that “it is a large school, but still has a family feel.” She also mentioned that it is a great school to teach in. 

As for new plans, Morrison has been thinking of new and different food labs to conduct. At her previous school, she hosted a lip balm lab. She plans on teaming up with the other Food Nutrition teacher, Chanda Childress, to test it out this year. Other than that, though, she is unsure what other labs she is going to do. She is in the process of planning other labs.

Morrison has two kids and a husband. They have lived in Forsyth County for two years. Morrison does not have a favorite place to go, she likes “trying new things and places.” She always tries to find new restaurants to eat at and new vacation spots to visit. She is not a fan of returning to the same places more than once.

So far, Morrison is loving North and is happy to be here. She is excited to see what her future at North has to offer.