Morgan Brown Awarded Teacher of the Year by the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce

Online, June 5, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Morgan Brown, a high school science and mathematics teacher at The Grauer School in Encinitas, was recognized by the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce (ECC) as The Grauer School's Teacher of the Year. Brown and other top educators in the Encinitas community were recognized by the ECC on Tuesday, June 4th at the annual Salute to Education Event held at Rancho Santa Fe Security. Dr. Stuart Grauer, the Founder of the Grauer School, and The Grauer School Principal Dana Abplanalp-Diggs presented the award to Brown.

Four years ago, Morgan Brown submitted an unsolicited resume to The Grauer School inquiring about potential positions in mathematics, physics, or computer science. Principal Abplanalp-Diggs remembers seeing his resume. "When I read Morgan's resume, I knew that he was someone that The Grauer School wanted to meet and get to know-he fit our teacher profile exactly. I contacted him and scheduled an interview with him immediately, even though we did not have a position open at the time," Abplanalp-Diggs recalls.

Today, Brown is the head of the Mathematics Department at The Grauer School and teaches Algebra I, Calculus, Physics, and Robotics. He has also taught Computer Science and has implemented a Guitar Building course at the school that incorporates physics and music. Brown is the coach of The Grauer School's award-winning FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team. His guidance has led the robotics team to three FIRST Inspire Awards and four consecutive World Championship appearances. His efforts and the team's achievements have garnered continuous sponsor support from the Loewy Family Foundation. In 2014, when The Grauer School finishes building out the campus, Brown's new home base will be in The Loewy-Linz Physics Lab.

Brown is also The Grauer School's high school boys' soccer coach and within two seasons coached the team from a last place finish to a second place league finish at the Magdalena Ecke YMCA arena soccer league. In his spare time, Brown's number one passion is playing soccer. He is currently competing in three leagues in the San Diego area. "All through college I knew I wanted to go into teaching, but it was only when I came to The Grauer School that I realized just what a rewarding career it would be. I never dreamed I could have so much fun sharing my passions for math, science, sports, and discovering the world with students who are so connected, engaged, and genuinely friendly and excited to learn," commented Brown.

Brown graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a B.S. in Physics. During his undergraduate years, he received the Physics Excellence Award, the Dean's Award for Undergraduate Excellence, and the Teaching Assistant of the Year Award. Afterward, he was accepted into the physics graduate program at UCSD and subsequently awarded the Promising Scholar in Physics Award. While earning his M.S. Physics degree, Brown also taught two physics classes at CSU San Marcos. For additional information, contact Traci Kitaoka, (760) 274-2115 or [email protected].