ELLSWORTH – Ever since he was a child, Ellsworth Middle School Principal Olin Morrison knew he wanted to work with youth in some capacity. It was just a matter of finding the right avenue. The Elk Mound native began in his new role July 5, describing himself as “one of the luckiest guys on earth to have a staff so committed” to student learning and growth. He was hired after Principal Tim Conway retired.

For the last three years, Morrison served as the Dean of Students at Hudson Middle School. Prior to that, he was a school counselor at Meyer Middle School in River Falls. He graduated from UW-River Falls with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in outdoor education. For a couple of years, he put his knowledge to use as a camp director. While a perfect fit for his education, being away for months out of the year wasn’t conducive to family life. He decided to pursue a Master’s degree in school counseling, followed by a Master’s in educational leadership.

“As a school counselor, I always really en joyed the aspects of the job when I was work- ing upstream, so to speak, working proactive ly to develop systems to solve problems that were creating a more reactive need,” Morrison said. “That’s when I recognized a passion for educational leadership.”

Morrison lives in River Falls with his wife, 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. His wife, Nealee, is an Army Reserve veteran who now works as a probation officer at a juvenile detention center in Hastings, Minn. “She’s also a yoga instructor and birth doula,” Morrison said. “I could talk for hours about how amazing she is. She supports some pretty tough kids.” Morrison, who grew up in a family who spent time in the woods, paddling, fishing and camping, enjoys this area because it gives him access to everything he likes to do: Fishing, mountain biking, boating, canoeing, kayaking and bird hunting. Professionally, Morrison enjoys working with families and considers himself a “big family collaborator.” He takes pride in developing relationships with families, students and staff.

“Even some of the students that I’ve dealt with in the past through discipline, I really like to pull them in as part of a team,” Morrison said. “So far here, that’s been a big joy of mine, making those family connections.” Morrison is pleased with the strong culture and climate evident at EMS. The staff is dedicated and committed. He’s looking forward to the direction as a whole staff are heading.

“The folks in this building are true professionals and want to continue and grow results,” Morrison said. “Coming out of three very challenging years in education, the feel that I get from our staff here is that they’re ready to work.”

Character education is also important to Morrison and has been a big part of career in previous districts. EMS parents can expect to see a renewed, robust character education program taking shape. “I planted a seed early on and some people are just running with it,” Morrison said. “I’ve seen the benefits in previous schools and taking the time to explicitly teach moral and performance character.”

The EMS Parents Club is also excited to be bridge for character education, he added. “I recognize the power of parents talking to parents,” he said.

He sees character education as a vehicle to teach soft skills and life lessons beyond the regular curriculum. “It’s the stuff year-after year that employers say they’re looking for,” Morrison said. “If we don’t continue to do that, we’re doing our kids a disservice.”

One thing character education will pro – mote is “screen free” weeks. For those who say kids are different these days than past generations, Morrison disagrees. “Kids aren’t any different these days, but it’s a very difficult time to be a kid,” he said. “The reason I would say that is, I’d boil it down to one thing: cell phones and social media. The mistakes I made would have been amplified ten-fold if I had a super computer in my pocket. They’re designed to be addictive. Young folks with brains we know are not fully developed yet don’t stand a chance to set their own screen limits.”

Too much screen time can lead to poor sleep habits, poor quality of sleep, and negative influences through different social media trends. Character education programming will maximize and emphasize face-to-face interaction and the importance for parents of setting limits at home. “It’s really not a generational question,” Morrison said. “There’s just as match peer- to-peer cruelty, but we could disconnect from it back then. We could go home and run around. They’re learning, they’re growing, they’re going to make plenty of mistakes. Those mistakes don’t need to be amplified on social media.”

Another reason Morrison got into this line of work was because he struggled in school. He said he knew the principal well, but credits him with helping him through his problems. He in turn hopes to do the same for EMS students.

“I’m just so thrilled to be here,” Morrison said. “Ellsworth in so many ways reminds me of Elk Mound. A strong community with a strong support of education. I look forward to continuing to engrain myself in the community and be part of it for many years going forward.”