Becky Alexander, the newly appointed Superintendent of Morris Public Schools, is ready to lead the district with her deep-rooted connection to the community and extensive experience in education. Alexander shared her journey and vision for the future in an interview.

“I grew up in the area and I’m a Preston graduate,” Alexander said.” My career in education basically started at Morris. The only other experience I had is teaching in Missouri … So I had to move away for a year to get some experience and then I moved back.”

Alexander taught for a part of the year in Okmulgee, and then I got the opportunity to come to Morris and I’ve been here at the start of my 28th year at Morris,” she added.

Her career in education has consisted of early childhood, teaching kindergarten and first grade. I also got my Master’s in reading and so I did some reading intervention and then I transitioned to be a principal. And then I just moved out to be a superintendent. This community’s always been amazing and supportive. And I’ve just had a lot of mentors in my life that have, you know, helped me be where I am today. So I’m very grateful for this opportunity.”

Alexander is proud, but humble, to be the first female superintendent of Morris Public Schools, but she wants no glory for herself. She recognized the trailblazing women who came before her.

“There are so many alumni from Morris that are females that are so successful, so I felt like they helped make the groundwork… Mr. Lyons gave me the opportunity, the board gave me the opportunity and the community believed in me. The experience I gained as being the elementary principal is kind of the next step, but I’m very grateful to the community for believing in me and being supportive in this opportunity.”

As a dedicated educator and mother, Alexander balances her professional and personal life with grace. She and her husband have three grown children and one grandchild.

Reflecting on the challenges faced in her first year as superintendent, Alexander mentioned, “Being a first-year superintendent, I didn’t plan on having to deal with a tornado. And knowing that, Dr. Chris Karc, the previous superintendent, has been a great mentor and a great support system even though he has moved on to new adventures. He’s a phone call away at any time.

“And the tornado has brought more learning opportunities,” she said continuing, “We’re grateful that no one was injured or hurt. During the situation, we really didn’t have any buildings completely destroyed. They were mainly damaged, and there was a lot of damages at different sites, but the community rallied and helped us clean up the grounds, and repairs are on their way. We’re ready for the first day of school, there’s just small things that need to keep getting repaired.”

Despite these hurdles, Alexander remains optimistic and focused on the future.

“Another challenge is, you know, we look at the finances, and we had the extra money that has gone away. But … we need to work together to find ways to save as we’ve done it in the past, we’ve weathered the storms. So we have a staff in place that believes in providing the best education for all of our students, and we’ll do what it takes to be successful and know if we need to save a penny here that everybody’s on board to help us out.”

Regarding staffing, Alexander assured, “We are 99.9 percent ready. We were 100 percent yesterday, but we had an employee that decided to take another (position). So we have been working. Mr. Box, our high school principal, has gone above and already found someone that could potentially fill that position. Our administrators are 100 percent on board to be Eagles and do what we can to make our school better.”

The team at Morris Public Schools is strong and dedicated, with key leaders in place. “Hilary Dingus is the elementary principal, and she took over and worked as an assistant principal last year at the elementary, so it was a smooth transition. She already knows our students, our staff, our community and family. Both her kids attend Morris. So she’s invested in the district for what our goals and visions are. And then there’s Mr. Whitlock, the middle school principal, who is in his second year and has implemented a lot of things for those middle school students to be successful every day. Mr. Box is the high school principal.”

Looking forward, Alexander is excited about fostering school pride and community engagement. “I’m looking forward to building that pride that we have at Morris Public Schools. Our students, we have great kids who are blessed with an academic team that said backto- back state, our band programs out there practicing today, and they’re always geared to success, and that goes even down to our pre-K and K building that foundation of building students who want to celebrate their school and their success.”

One unique aspect of Morris Public Schools is its central location.

“One of the things that everyone says is, you know, what about your facilities? I look at it this way: our school is centrally located. In a school our size, that’s three A, we’re two blocks. So if we want to go see something that’s happening, a four-yearold can walk across the street and see what’s happening with their class. Our high school students can be mentors for our young ones. So we feel like being centrally located in the town and being a community that’s small and where everyone knows where our school is, builds and shows support that many districts might not have.”

Alexander also emphasized her commitment to collaboration and improvement.

“I’ve already met with the mayor to see what we can do to work together to build the community. We’re looking at doing a bond next year and the year after to build better facilities, but also take care of what we have right now. Our community is amazing, always behind us 100 percent, and our staff will do what it takes to help our kids be successful and just grow that. It’s already been planted. Just add the water every day and continue to grow and help our staff and our students be successful.”

The first day of school for kindergarten through 12th grade is Aug. 14, with pre-K starting on Aug. 21.

“One more thing most excited about is that the district is able to offer free breakfast and lunch for all students. Mrs. Pannell, our cafeteria manager, was able to make this happen for our students,” Alexander said.

Alexander’s dedication and enthusiasm are evident as she leads Morris Public Schools into a new era, fostering a supportive and thriving educational environment for all students.