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Erick Morin, an English teacher at McAllen ISD’s Instruction and Guidance Center, won the Region One Secondary teacher of the year award through his passion and dedication for helping the district’s at-risk students.
Region One Education Service Center held the annual Teacher of the Year ceremony on Aug. 1 in Edinburg where the center celebrates the district’s teacher of the year.
Morin is the 19th McAllen ISD teacher to earn a Region One teacher of the year award in the past 34 years.
Describing himself as a big jokester, Morin said his wife at first did not believe him when he texted her the news the night of the ceremony.
“When they said McAllen, I was like, ‘Wow,’” Morin said. “I couldn’t believe it. I felt shocked at first, but I just embraced it. I get to represent, really, like myself, my district and the campus, right. Because especially where I’m coming from, where I’m teaching … it showcases what I’m doing with the kids and validates what I’ve been doing on campus.”
An educator at McAllen ISD for a decade, he teaches middle school English along with being a grant writer, campus team leader, robotics club instructor and podcast host.
The Instruction and Guidance Center is a disciplinary alternative education program at the district and is where Morin has spent 8 of his 10 years
Initially starting his career at the center, Morin was moved to a middle school and upon getting the chance to come back to the center he took it.
“I work with at-risk students and I feel like that’s where my strengths are,” Morin said. “I like working with those kids and being able to make a connection.”
With students attending the center for only about 20 to 40 days before they go back to their home campus, Morin said he tries his best to make connections with the students in a short amount of time.
“A lot of it has to do with just being able to connect with them,” he said. “Not to say my childhood was perfect but I had struggles and everything just like most kids. When we get these certain kids and I hear their issues … it just hits home in a way and I realize that they need a different approach.”
Incorporating a non-traditional style of teaching, Morin said the center’s system includes building student’s emotional intelligence and hands-on activities such as gardening.
“Students need somebody there to help them and guide them, and especially the kids that we get sometimes,” he said. “Family life is different or they don’t have a stable adult … and they need someone else they can look forward to listening to them. I think that’s what gravitates me to that school, and that’s why I went back.”
Asked how working at the center for close to a decade had impacted Morin, he replied, “It’s making me a better person. I have kids of my own, so being able to do what I do there kind of reflects on how I parent my own kids … as I’m learning to be a better father and better teacher to these kids, to me, I feel like there’s a growth inside.”
