After four years planning West Delaware’s activities and assisting the principal, Mike Morrison will become the activities director at the new Liberty High School in the Iowa City school district.

Morrison has worked at West Delaware for 28 years. He taught high school math for 24 years. Throughout that time, he also coached baseball for 25 years; basketball, four; and football, 24. In addition, he was the activities director as well as the assistant principal for four years.

“It’s all about enjoying and being around the kids on and off the field,” Morrison said.

During Morrison’s baseball career, his team qualified for state seven times, earning runner-up in 2001 and claiming the state championship title in 2007. Morrison took a break from coaching baseball but came back for his last year at West Delaware.

Junior Grant Morris is glad Morrison came back to coach for his last year. “He has a great deal of knowledge for the sport,” Morris said. “He knows so much about baseball. It’s ridiculous!”

Off the field, Morrison has a great deal of knowledge as well. Kay La Rosa, Morrison’s secretary, appreciates Morrison’s compassion for students and overall knowledge. “You can always count on him to have the answer,” she said. “We will miss him.”

As the activities director, Morrison said he strived to put an equal amount of energy into all programs and academics at West Delaware.

Principal Tim Felderman said he is going to miss the hard work and dedication Morrison shows daily for all students at West Delaware.“He makes sure students are well taken care of and are provided resources so they can perform at a high level,” Felderman said. “There are not many instances that he settled for second best.”

Felderman also appreciates all the help Morrison has provided him, saying he cannot thank him enough for his guidance over his first two years as principal. Felderman said, “He has positively challenged me and allowed me to focus on the academic aspect of school.

Morrison said he is going to miss all of his friends, colleagues and students at West Delaware. “The majority of my life has been spent in this community,” Morrison said. “I’m very proud and very humbled to be a part of all the success in the school district.”

Although he will miss the West Delaware Community, Morrison said he is looking forward to building Liberty High School’s programs from the ground up, creating a new identity and culture for the students and staff there.