Morgan Reed:
CLASS OF 1982
Yucaipa High SchoolClass of 1982
Yucaipa, CA
Serrano High SchoolClass of 9999
Phelan, CA
University of CaliforniaClass of 1987
Riverside, CA
Yucaipa Intermediate SchoolClass of 1978
Yucaipa, CA
Yucaipa Elementary SchoolClass of 1975
Yucaipa, CA
Morgan's Story
When I graduated from good ol' YHSl in 1982, I attended the University of California at Riverside where I got a Bachelor's of Science degree in Admin. Studies and Sociology after 5 grueling years of balancing school, two/three jobs, and active involvement in the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. While I learned quite a bit from the formal curriculum in courses at UCR, I received a tremendous education on life and human dynamics from my fraternity experience. I evolved from someone who was shy and reserved in high school into a more outspoken, take-charge kind of guy as a three-year officer of the chapter.
When I graduated, I took a two year hiatus from school, working odd jobs and really getting into bicycling, sometimes riding from Yucaipa to Riverside and back 5 days a week (averaging over 300 miles a week). When I finally decided that the corporate world didn't suit my values and ideals, I went back to school to train to become the one thing I said I'd never be -- a teacher. I received my clear credentials for both Multiple Subjects and Social Sciences and did my student teaching (while going to school full time and working 35 hours week) at Moreno Valley High School and Sunnymead Middle School -- this was the single toughest year of my life. The training I received was rigorous and well worth it, and my mom couldn't have been prouder that I chose her profession as mine too.
In the summer of 1990, I got hired by the Snowline JUSD to teach 8th grade Composition, Literature, and U.S. History at Pinon Mesa Middle School. When I finally got a place in Wrightwood and moved up to the Tri-Community, I was both happy and mystified. After driving around the desert community of Phelan, I began to wonder if I was in California or the Deep South, what with so many gun racks in pick-up trucks and Confederate flags flying from flag poles. I exaggerate a little but not much, but I got used to Phelan and loved living in Wrightwood.
I taught at Pinon Mesa for 6 great years. This was a truly marvelous place to work. The staff was energetic, fun, and unified. My second year there, my best friend and fellow 1982 YHS graduate, Todd Anton, started teaching at the school. We had a blast working together with fellow teachers to build a great History department at the school. There's nothing like having your best friend work next door to you for five years. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun with the students; they had no idea how to deal with the sarcasm and inside jokes. It was also during my time at PMMS that I came closest to tying the matrimonial knot. I was in a serious relationship with Heidi Rued, a 6th grade teacher there. But things didn't work out in the end; she moved back to Northern California, and I stayed put.
After 6 years of teaching middle school, and with the change of leadership at Pinon Mesa, I felt it was time to move on and up -- both in grade level and the road. In 1996-97, I began teaching at Serrano High School, which is just up the road from Pinon Mesa. At Serrano, I have taught a whole litany of subjects throughout three grade levels. I have taught Economics, Government, World History, A.P. European History, and A.P. United States History. I have just finished my 19th year at Serrano and 25th overall. For the last 10 years, I have taught all sophomores because of a program called Smaller Learning Communities (SLC), so I taught regular World History and AP European History to 10th graders. This upcoming year I will be teaching AP Euro and Senior Economics and Government.
Not just content to teach my courses, I have been very active over the years in campus life: advising service clubs, coaching sports, serving on committees, acting as liaison and coordinator for test prep programs, heading up teacher teams, and living up to my nickname ,"The Cheesecake and Brownie Guy," by using my baking talents to raise money for scholarships and/or to help students pay for Advanced Placement tests - I topped the $100,000 mark in charitable contributions. I also used to make carrot cakes for a little bistro on Highway 138 called Rick's Roadside Cafe.
While "No Child Left Behind" and now Common Core and everything it implies has taken some of the joy out of teaching, I am glad that I chose teaching as m...Expand for more
y calling, as my mission in life. I know I make a difference in students' lives even though many think I'm too smart to be a teacher. The nobility of what I do outweighs any regret over not pursuing a six/seven figure income job in a profession I might have wound up hating. For those of you who knew me then and said, "you can be whatever you want to be," know that I became what I needed to be.
As for my personal life, I had to give up cycling in 2001 because I got carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. I have had surgery on both hands and it has helped, but my days of road and mountain biking are more or less over. I can't play or officiate basketball anymore because I can't run; my right achilles tendon is bent into the shape of a crescent moon. When I'm not working my usual 70-80 hour week, I do occasionally hike around my neighborhood in Pinon Hills, which is in the foothills above Phelan. Being up at 5000 feet, I have a great view of the valley below and the mountains above .
I also spend a lot of time at baseball parks. During the 2005 and 2006 MLB seasons, I made it my mission to see every major league park(I plan to see the new parks that have been built or renovated since 2006 during the summer of 2017). Over two summers, I managed to get to all 31 parks (I saw Old Busch in St. Louis in 2005 and new Busch in 2006). Along the way, I met some great people, rated the standard hot dog at every ballpark (Safeco Field, AT&T Park, and Fenway Park have the best hot dogs), saw some highlight moments, and drove through 22 states. In between trips to ballparks, I also went to Europe, had VIP seats to the 2005 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction, and attended conferences for my job.
The trip to Europe was special because I went with my best friend and helped him fulfill a promise to his father. You may remember that Todd Anton's dad, Wally Anton, was Yucaipa's sheriff for a long time; he was also a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. Before he died on June 6, 2002, Todd promised his dad that he would get some of Wally's ashes back to Europe so he could be "back with the boys." Well, Todd has a family and couldn't afford to go.
When my mom died in November of 2005, I received some death benefit money from my dad. I used it to send Todd to Europe to fulfill that last part of Wally's request. Naturally, Todd wanted me to go, so I used my tax return to pay my way. It was an emotional, inspiring, and satisfying journey. As if following the script from the movie "Eurotrip," we went to London, then Paris, and ended up in Berlin -- we didn't get to Rome though. In between, we sprinkled Wally's ashes at Normandy and Spicheren Heights, where the local townspeople conducted a ceremony to honor Wally and his son, a son of a liberator. It was very poignant. The worst part of the trip was getting lost in Northern Paris, which smells like diesel fuel and urine 24/7. There were so many best parts, it's hard to pinpoint one. The most symbolic moment for me is that in 1986, there was a wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate, and in 2006, there was a giant soccer ball (because of the World Cup). How far the world has come in 2 decades.
Since high school there have been a lot of highs and lows, but more highs than lows. I have lost my mom and have gone to far too many staff and student funerals in my 25 years of teaching. However, I have had the honor of doing something I love, working with so many wonderful kids. Along the way I've made some great friends, some of whom I've lost touch with lately, and I live on 2.34 acres in a pinon forest in a house I own. I can watch rabbits, chipmunks, quail, roadrunners, and coyotes scamper across my yard; I also see the occasional rattlesnake. I'd like to be less busy and a little more active. Unfortunately the 50s often mean thinning hairlines, expanding waistlines, and more frequent trips to the doctor's office(I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in October 2014) and I have hit this trifecta-- you can't have everything.
For those of you who might read this, I hope all is well with you. I often wonder what became of many of you. I went to the 30th reunion and saw some old friends, but I wonder about many others. I hope to see many of you at the 40th reunion.
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