Growing up just outside of New York City in Port Chester, NY, there were many historical sites to visit for AP Psychology and social studies teacher Mrs. Christine Morris during her youth. Mrs. Morris influences students each year teaching them about the mind and historical events as well as influencing them outside of the classroom.

Mrs. Morris teaches three different courses: AP Psychology, AP European History and US 601. Mrs. Morris is one of the most tenured teachers at Bellefonte Area High School, and throughout her 27 years of teaching she has taught psychology nearly the entire time and history classes every year. She also acts as the high school National Honor Society advisor, helping students get community service opportunities and other activities to help the community and school. 

Prior to being a full-time teacher at BAHS Morris already had a connection to our school.

“I was fortunate to do my student teaching experience here at Bellefonte and fell in love with the school district and community. Prior to teaching, I worked for Penn State’s Upward Bound program teaching a course on study skills,” Mrs. Morris said.

Mrs. Morris attended Port Chester High School as a teen and pursued her secondary degree first at Penn State Altoona before transferring after the first semester of sophomore year to the University Park campus to finish her degree.

Outside of the classroom Morris is a mother of two girls Ashley and Rianna. Currently Ashley is working in Washington D.C. while Rianna is in her freshman year at Robert Morris University. Along with her husband, she enjoys cheering her students and her alma mater at Bellefonte and Penn State sporting and fine ats events. Her favorite events to watch are hockey, football, drama plays and any other events that her students are in. 

Every day, students walk through her door and are happy to learn, they go from having a bad day to having a fantastic one just from having her class.

“I love having Mrs. Morris in class, she brings a different energy to class than most other teachers. I’ve known her since my brother had her and she has always been great,” junior Madison Melius said.

Mrs. Morris is extremely fun, exciting, and loves telling stories, bringing smiles to students’ faces each day, though most of the time students come into her class excited to learn and share stories of their experiences each and every day.

“I absolutely love sharing stories with my students.  I really enjoy it when I see them making connections with the course material and everyday life.  I also am proud of my students when they realize that they can be a success in an area of expertise,” Mrs. Morris said.

She does not have any favorite class that she teaches nor does she have any favorite students in her classes; Morris simply enjoys her job teaching students about history and about how the brain and body work.

“While I have always been fascinated with historical events and people from a young age, I equally like psychology because we can see the various theories in daily life situations.  I really look forward to all of my classes.  They are all my favorite to teach,” Mrs. Morris said.