What’s Mr. Morse Got to Do With It?

By Perin Romano ’22

Picture sun streaming through glass panes, pollen fluttering through the slightly humid September air, and a small radio in the corner of room 261 in the Adelaide Cobb Ward ’51 Classic Building. The creative spirit of Mr. Morse’s class radiates through the room the same way the notes of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” does. In a rigorous environment like Hathaway Brown, the art studio at the end of the infamous second floor hallway is almost like the light at the end of a tunnel, but that doesn’t mean that it boasts no challenges. For literally decades, Jamie Morse has strived to cultivate a haven for the next generation’s brightest thinkers, makers, and dreamers. An environment where they challenge themselves to discover new possibilities, establish their voice, and finally recognize that there is not always a right or wrong. What’s fascinating is Mr. Morse’s reluctance to ever begin teaching in the first place. Describing himself as a lacking student, “JMo” geared his efforts towards the skills that he did hone, drawing and painting. From the time he was in middle school, Mr. Morse can remember his own teachers pushing him to consider a career behind the easel. After attending Cleveland Institute of Art for a year, Mr. Morse transferred to Philadelphia College of Art now known as the University of the Arts. It was there that he discovered the same love of painting he is known for now. In fact, he decided to major in painting at the last minute and graduated at the top of his class. Crediting hard work as the factor that pushed him to excel, Mr. Morse took that dedication with him when graduating from college

Self-portrait by Jamie Morse

and immediately started student teaching. Almost unluckily for the students of Hathway Brown, JMo actually hated everything about it. After his student teaching experience, Mr. Morse determined that he would never teach again, thus beginning his career in business and antiques that helped to formulate many of the vivid stories he now recalls in the classroom. Although Mr. Morse gained some lively tales and precious life experience from the antique business, Mr. Morse explains that he wasn’t cut out for it, and when a friend called to inform him that HB desperately needed an art teacher, he decided to give it another try. The Arts department at Hathaway Brown has been home to published photographers, celebrated artists, and some of the most brilliant visionaries of our time, but it is clear to many that they wouldn’t have made it anywhere without Mr. Morse. When speaking to him, I diverged from my laid out questions for just a moment to ask what I had always wondered. How did he create such meaningful connections with students in and out of the classroom? There are many things that make JMo unique, but what makes him special is his dedication to his students. Not only does he know his own students sometimes better than they know themselves, but he makes an effort to be there for those that he never actually had the chance to teach. A familiar face in the halls, he may be a significant figure to his mentees, to his art students, and to his history students, but even more importantly, he means something to each and every student at Hathaway Brown because they mean so very much to him. “Learning for life” is the motto that every member of the HB community wears proudly, but Mr. Morse seems to exude that attitude in his everyday energy better than anyone else does. He explained to me, “I find I learn from students as much as they learn from me.” This very statement is exactly what makes Mr. Morse’s teaching so successful. In his ability to be open minded to his students, he evolves with them, catering his lessons to have the impact he is so known for. “The best teachers are the teachers who literally believe in their students. Kids know that, they pick up on that,” Mr. Morse says. He strives to lead by example. He is himself every day knowing that it will inspire his students to do the same, he is vulnerable to making mistakes knowing that it will give his students courage to do the same, and he is invested in everything they do, hoping that they will be invested in themselves. Mr. Morse’s experiences with teachers who did the opposite lends evidence to the fact that he desires more than anything to be what his students need even if they don’t know what that is themselves. His art students may need his advice on which paper to use or how to mix the perfect shade, but sometimes they need a teacher to be more than that. Mr. Morse continues to show that he is the center of HB’s celebrated community through his true care for each girl that walks the halls. When asked what his favorite memory at HB was, Mr. Morse relayed a memory that he actually had no recollection of at all. Rather, it was the memory of a past student who had never forgotten exactly what Mr. Morse had said. On a slightly humid day, a group of students sat working in the art studio as Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” played on the radio. Jamie Morse walked over, placed his hand on the dial, and turned the volume down. Looking at all of his students, he revealed a message that still rings true decades later, “Girls, I want you to know that love has everything to do with it,” and it is most positively true that love has everything to do with the relationship Jamie Morse has established with the students of Hathaway Brown.