Briana Morales, Illinois’ Teacher of the Year, works on a laptop at Gordon Bush Alternative Center in East St. Louis. (Photo courtesy of Briana Morales)

Five years ago, Briana Morales resigned after a year of teaching and wasn’t sure she ever wanted to step into a classroom again.

Today, she stands as Illinois’ Teacher of the Year

“I would never believe this would be my life, if you asked me six years ago,” Morales said. “I resigned from teaching after my first year. I finished the year and I was not sure teaching was for me.

“There is not enough talk about how difficult and disillusioning the first year could be.”

Back as a student at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, Morales had done a campus ministry service trip to East St. Louis. She had spent a week helping at a after-school program and felt that the community was where she was supposed to be.

“I saw what the community looked like. It embraces the beauty with the struggle,” Morales said. “I was in Danville District 119 for one year and it was not the right fit for me. I wanted to go back to East St. Louis.”

Morales landed a position teaching English at the Gordon Bush Alternative Center in East St. Louis. She quickly got involved and co-directed a student-led nonviolence program, teaching youths at a troubled East St. Louis housing complex Dr. Martin Luther King’s principles of non-violence and how to cope with issues.

“It’s aimed to help heal the traumas in the communities,” she said. “It was a full circle moment for me to wind up back there.”

Morales herself struggled with mental health issues when a Hoffman Estates middle-schooner and her family was going through a lot of conflict and life issues. After attempting suicide, Morales was transitioning back into school, when she connected with Eisenhower Junior High teacher Jennifer Stein eke.

“She is the most amazing person I’ve ever met,” Morales said of her mentor. “She was battling breast cancer and still equipped me with the skills to go on through life’s adversities and to turn pain into power.”

Steineke directed Morales to poetry as a way to express her thoughts, and Morales wrote her first poetry book in Steineke’s class.

“She showed up for me. I only hope to be half of what she was to me,” Morales said of Steineke, who still teaches at Eisenhower in Hofffman Estates.

Now, Morales teaches her own students to express their thoughts through writing.

“Briana Morales makes it her mission to be the person in her students’ lives who cares about them and believes in their brilliance,” said state Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders. “She shines like a bright light, even through her students’ darkest experiences. Ms. Morales inspires and challenges all of us to transform learning environments into equitable, liberatory spaces where every student finds connection and care.

“She is already an incredibly accomplished leader,; and I cannot wait to see the impact of her message and example as our 2023 Illinois Teacher of the Year.”

Darnell Spencer, principal of the Gordon Bush Alternative Center in East St.  Louis, agrees that one of Morales’ strongest attributes is her ability  to connect with students.

“Ms. Morales spends countless hours mentoring and developing strategies to advance her students’ achievement,” Spencer said. “She has committed herself to being a lifelong learner. Ms. Morales is dedicated to personalized, competency-based education and is passionate about education research and policy development.”

Morales will be mentoring a novice teacher this year as she has been given a one-year sabbatical to serve as an education ambassador.