By Charly Buchanan

News Editor

Debate and Communications teacher Kelli Morrill won the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year award contest.

The VFW website explains the award as for teachers with outstanding commitment to teaching Americanism and patriotism to their students. Their curriculum must focus on citizenship education topics for at least half of the school day in a classroom environment. Morrill incorporates these topics into her teaching in a variety of ways.

“On a daily basis we talk about the constitution and our rights and our amendments. [We incorporate these topics] through our debate resolutions. Depending on what they are, we have pros and cons, and a lot of the time those pull into the debates and the arguments against or for such things like the right to privacy or the right to life. It’s almost intrinsically promoted in the debate classroom. I also try to teach kids how to be better citizens by getting them to be more active through voting. We have political discussions in the classroom and we talk about what you can do to help society be a better place,“ Morrill said.

Principal Charlie Belt explained what qualified Morrill for the award.

“Some [of the reasons she was chosen] are the success she has had with a strong debate program and strong results. Part of it is also the content since they are looking for someone that is helping to develop the next generation of leaders and American citizens with American ideals who know their constitutional rights and freedoms.Those are concepts that are covered directly or indirectly in debate all the time.  I think [she was chosen] also because it is a lot of time. It’s a lot of weekends, it’s a lot of late Friday nights, and it’s a lot of riding the bus home that night and then getting up early the next morning for tournaments,” Belt said.

Belt also discussed how this award reflects Blue Springs South as a school

“It’s another nice recognition for a staff member who puts in a whole bunch of effort and time beyond the regular school day. Debate is a co-curricular activity- it’s a class and then it’s also weekend tournaments and night time preparation and practicing and research and summer time meetings. So, Mrs. Morrill spends a lot of hours and does a lot of work to try and help the kids have the best experience they can in her program and then at debate tournaments and has been very successful. It’s an honor for our school and certainly for Mrs. Morrill,” Belt said.

Receiving this award came as a surprise for Morrill, as she did know that she had been nominated.

“They totally caught me off guard- I had no clue. It was probably the second best teaching day of my life as far as for getting an award. It’s just one of the best feelings to feel like other people pay attention to what you are doing and it makes you feel worthy of getting an award like that. It blew me away and I’m super happy about it, but I also know that it could have gone to a lot of different people,” Morrill said.

Yet another surprise came after Morrill found out that a prize was awarded for winning VFW’s Teacher of the Year award.

“I got 100 dollars and I got this gorgeous plaque with a crystal apple on it and a certificate. It’s the first time I’ve ever gotten money teaching as an award,” Morrill said.

The award was presented to Morrill by the VFW representative Paul Bekebrede, who is a retired Blue Springs South teacher and a retired Air Force Major.