Matt Morrow earns respect for time in Afghanistan and as public safety officer

Matt Morrow is a man who has given his all for his country in the Army overseas in Afghanistan and now he is doing the same for Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7 as a school safety officer.

Morrow is so well thought of that he was recently honored at the annual award recognition for Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7. He is the Woodland Elementary School safety officer.

“I have been back since the first of the year,” he said. “Many of the students and their families touched based with me to show they didn’t forget about me when they sent boxes of things to me. I had the record of most boxes at one time of 25. I was in Afghanistan for 10 months. I was overwhelmed by the things people sent me.”

Morrow described his time in Afghanistan as “somewhat uneventful.”

“A lot of what is portrayed about Afghanistan in the movies is true but not so extreme,” he said. “I wasn’t on the front line. My work was more in the construction field. In my unit we shipped all the materials and equipment back to the states.”

Morrow is in the Army Reserve. He said there are so many different cultures in Afghanistan. He served his time in Kandahar.

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“I probably met someone from every single place in this world while I was there,” he said. “It was interesting to find out how people on the other side of the world live.”

When the school safety officer came back to the United States, he dressed up as the school mascot at a morning meeting. When he took his mask off, he was introduced back to the kids and he had a powerful welcome back.

Often students ask Morrow about Afghanistan and he talks about it to educate them. Each lunch hour, he engages students in some type of physical fitness activity. He works out a considerable amount, lifting weights and tries to set a good fitness example for the children. Morrow tries to set an example for the children of the importance of serving the country and being respectable to one another.

“I am the first point of contact when people enter the school,” he said. “Sometimes during the physical challenges, I might have 15 kids and a parent doing pushups. I find that awesome. I want the children to be physically fit.”

Morrow said he thrives on his work with the Edwardsville School District.

“Working in the district is by far the most rewarding thing I have done in my life,” he said. “I love it.”

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