Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan spent his early years in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, graduating from Portsmouth High School in 1960. He matriculated at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire, where in 1964 he was awarded a Bachelor’s of Science Degree and teaching certification in math. After teaching for two years at Monadnock Regional High School in the Granite State, Harry arrived at Branford High School in 1967 and began a stellar teaching career. He completed his Master’s Degree at Southern Connecticut State University and continued his education through independent study and participation in workshops and conferences.
In June 1986, Harry suffered a fatal heart attack. The loss was beyond calculation. Harry was a premiere math teacher. He loved his subject as much as he loved the students he taught. In turn, Harry was a beloved teacher at Branford High School.
Between 1967 and his death, Branford High School stood in the confluence of Harry's enormous teaching talents, his insatiable hunger for learning, and his phenomenal energy. The beneficiaries were not only his students but also his colleagues. Harry lived to learn and share his knowledge. Those who were touched by his magical teaching talents flourished.
Whether he was teaching general math or calculus, his students always came first; Harry was a master at helping them to derive the most from their abilities. Both in preparation and presentation, he did whatever he felt was necessary to meet the individual needs of his students.
In addition to his classroom duties, Harry served on the system-wide math articulation commit tee, helping to establish curriculum and pedagogy that are still in place today. As a part of of his work with this committee, he visited the elementary schools, talking with and helping K--4 teachers under stand their role in K-12 math education.
Harry Morgan was Branford's alpha in technology. His knowledge about computer technology in the early 1970's was cutting edge, and his ability to foresee the impact of technology on learning exceeded the wisdom of national technology experts. While others were reading and talking about computers, Harry used them as a teaching tool. He was a visionary who brought practical applications of technology to Branford High School on a daily basis, while he explored the far reaches of computer science as a creative thinker.
Few of Harry's students (and by definition that meant anyone with whom he came into contact) escaped his engaging wit and the lessons that he conveyed just below the surface of shared laughter. His puzzles drove everyone insane but were so appealing that an honest attempt to come up with a solution was inevitable. His classroom was alive with challenges, questions, and encouragement, along with his incessant grin and his shining eyes. No one could escape the glow of Harry's teaching magic.
Harry Morgan was a great teacher. This was universally known. His untimely death at the young age of 44 cheated a generation of Branford High School students of an exemplary teacher and his col leagues of an example of teaching at its best. His passing denied Branford High School his genius for technology at a time when the science was just entering secondary schools. More importantly, the death of Harry Morgan robbed us of a man who was universally respected and loved and left a void in the hearts of his colleagues that remains painful today.
Harry Morgan was an outstanding teacher who modeled the love of learning for all who knew him. His induction into Branford's Education Hall of Fame brings a measure of closure to the many he inspired, among them his colleagues at Branford High School. However, the impact of a great educator is always part of a continuum: The seeds of knowledge and of learning, sown in one generation, will blossom in the next; and the cycle will continue. His wife, Mary Lou, and children, Michelle and Charles Cory, survive Harry.
In June 1986, Harry suffered a fatal heart attack. The loss was beyond calculation. Harry was a premiere math teacher. He loved his subject as much as he loved the students he taught. In turn, Harry was a beloved teacher at Branford High School.
Between 1967 and his death, Branford High School stood in the confluence of Harry's enormous teaching talents, his insatiable hunger for learning, and his phenomenal energy. The beneficiaries were not only his students but also his colleagues. Harry lived to learn and share his knowledge. Those who were touched by his magical teaching talents flourished.
Whether he was teaching general math or calculus, his students always came first; Harry was a master at helping them to derive the most from their abilities. Both in preparation and presentation, he did whatever he felt was necessary to meet the individual needs of his students.
In addition to his classroom duties, Harry served on the system-wide math articulation commit tee, helping to establish curriculum and pedagogy that are still in place today. As a part of of his work with this committee, he visited the elementary schools, talking with and helping K--4 teachers under stand their role in K-12 math education.
Harry Morgan was Branford's alpha in technology. His knowledge about computer technology in the early 1970's was cutting edge, and his ability to foresee the impact of technology on learning exceeded the wisdom of national technology experts. While others were reading and talking about computers, Harry used them as a teaching tool. He was a visionary who brought practical applications of technology to Branford High School on a daily basis, while he explored the far reaches of computer science as a creative thinker.
Few of Harry's students (and by definition that meant anyone with whom he came into contact) escaped his engaging wit and the lessons that he conveyed just below the surface of shared laughter. His puzzles drove everyone insane but were so appealing that an honest attempt to come up with a solution was inevitable. His classroom was alive with challenges, questions, and encouragement, along with his incessant grin and his shining eyes. No one could escape the glow of Harry's teaching magic.
Harry Morgan was a great teacher. This was universally known. His untimely death at the young age of 44 cheated a generation of Branford High School students of an exemplary teacher and his col leagues of an example of teaching at its best. His passing denied Branford High School his genius for technology at a time when the science was just entering secondary schools. More importantly, the death of Harry Morgan robbed us of a man who was universally respected and loved and left a void in the hearts of his colleagues that remains painful today.
Harry Morgan was an outstanding teacher who modeled the love of learning for all who knew him. His induction into Branford's Education Hall of Fame brings a measure of closure to the many he inspired, among them his colleagues at Branford High School. However, the impact of a great educator is always part of a continuum: The seeds of knowledge and of learning, sown in one generation, will blossom in the next; and the cycle will continue. His wife, Mary Lou, and children, Michelle and Charles Cory, survive Harry.