Phillip Morgan, program coordinator for our K-12 Health and Fitness Teacher Education program, will get a big salute at the Cougs’ Saturday football game against USC.

The Martin Stadium video screen will light up with his picture during the announcement that he is the Washington State University employee of the week.   The honor is sponsored by WSECU and is inspired by nominations made to WSU Athletics.  In this case, athletics intern Josh Grubich made an especially enthusiastic nomination.  He regaled Courtney Ioane, marketing assistant for the Washington State ISP Sports Network, with tales of the professor’s skill and enthusiasm.

Or as Phillip jokes, “my students told some lies about me.”  If that’s the case, a lot of them are lining up to fib.   In the past week alone, three glowing letters have come in to his email box from former students.   They were passed along by Phillip’s proud wife, Sharon.   The enthusiasm of  Mason Skeffington ’06, who’s loving his job as a West Seattle elementary school teacher, was typical:

“Dr. Morgan, it is teachers like you who really got me excited to do what I do.  I could have done many things with my life (and still could) but I chose to teach!  Having great professors at WSU prepared me for what may lie ahead.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your guidance and I hope that all is going well with you out at Wazzu.  Good luck with your new batch of scholars. I’m sure they are just as excited to have you as I was.”

Saturday will be a good day for Phillip.  But then, a lot of them are.

“There isn’t one time I’ve had in the classroom that I’ve had a bad day,” says Phillip, whose WSU teaching career began after years as a high school teacher and coach. “When I got this job, I felt I’d arrived. I’m where I want to be.  I don’t want to move up, I don’t want to move laterally. I love to teach.”