Marquis Who’s Who Honors Laurel Anne Morton, MA, for Expertise in Education
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Marquis Who’s Who honors Laurel Anne Morton, MA, for her expertise in education. Ms. Morton, now retired, was an educator for 35 years.
About Ms. Morton
Ms. Morton has always been passionate about education. From a very young age, she would volunteer to assist her teachers in setting up bulletin boards and grading papers. She even made a classroom in her home where she pretended to teach her siblings.
When Ms. Morton started college in Charleston, South Carolina, she studied education with the intention of becoming a teacher. Though she was committed to a teaching career, her husband, whom she married in 1975, was in the military, which forced the family to move to California. As a result, she took a break from pursuing her degree after completing two years of college at the College of Charleston in 1974.
Ms. Morton earned a Bachelor of Arts in social science in 1977 from California State University, Stanislaus, while she was married, as this degree was a requirement to become a teacher in the 1970s.
However, Ms. Morton got divorced in 1978 and worked in the mortgage banking and financial fields from 1978 to 1983 in Newport Beach and Santa Barbara. However, after realizing she no longer wanted to work in the financial sector, she moved to Sierra Madre in 1983.
The Beginning of a Career in Education
“When I moved to California and continued my degree, it was still in education. It was really what I needed to do,” Ms. Morton says.
This move allowed her to return to school part-time to earn her teaching credential at California Polytechnic University Pomona.
After Ms. Morton received her teaching credential, which was required to teach in a public school, she began her first teaching job in September 1986 in the Ontario-Montclair School District.
Ms. Morton subsequently taught in the Ontario School District for 14 years. Then, she changed districts and began working as a combination 4/5 teacher in the Arcadia Unified School District in September 2000. She worked at AUSD for 21 years until her retirement in 2021.
Ms. Morton earned her master’s degree in education from California Polytechnic University Pomona in December 1992, while she was teaching in OMSD.
Throughout her career as an educator, Ms. Morton had a significant impact on her students and enjoyed watching them work and learn together. She considers one of the major accomplishments of her career the fact that, to this day, she has kept in contact with many of her former students, many of whom have thanked her for the positive influence she has had on their lives.
A Continued Commitment to Teaching
Though retired, Ms. Morton still keeps abreast of the latest changes in the education world. She points to the teaching technique decomposition, which is where students learn to break down math problems into smaller parts, as very important. The practice helps the students not just learn to add and subtract, multiply and divide, but also understand the process of solving the problem. Ms. Morton also believes it is important for teachers to observe the students’ thought processes and allow the children a chance to recognize mistakes and learn from them.
“I read something the other day that says, ‘If you make mistakes, at least you are trying.’ That’s so important and that’s what the kids need to know,” Ms. Morton says.
Involvement in the Community
Since her retirement, Ms. Morton has become more involved in her community through her church, a book club whose members are former educators and a women’s guild called The Guild.
“For the last several years, I was responsible for coordinating the Thanksgiving Food Drive at my church. The donations from the church community helped families in a designated lower socioeconomic community receive food items for the upcoming holidays. Those are the things that are important to me: being there with people and for people,” Ms. Morton says.
Ms. Moton is also part of the Assistance League of Arcadia (ALA), a nonprofit organization that runs a thrift shop called the Bargain Box. All the money from sales goes to another facet of ALA, Operation School Bell. OSB provides students from lower socioeconomic areas of the San Gabriel Valley with clothing, shoes, backpacks, books and other essentials.
As Ms. Morton says, “The things that are most important to me are to be of support to students and families in need! That is really at the heart of everything I do when I volunteer my time and efforts!”
Ms. Morton has been recognized for her expertise and dedication to teaching throughout her long career. She was Teacher of the Year at Longley Way Elementary School and was chosen as Teacher of the Month by the Rotary Club in Arcadia. Ms. Morton’s contributions to education were honored by her inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who in 2024.
About Marquis Who’s Who®: Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms worldwide. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website, marquiswhoswho.com.