Morris leaves indelible mark on Prairie community
Doug Morris
The middle, high school principal will finish his tenure in the district on June 30
By Steve Van Kooten
Every person's life should be a legend: a little bit of myth, a little bit of mirth and a whole lot of memories.
Doug Morris, the middle and high school principal at the Prairie du Chien School District, has accrued an ample amount of all three during his life, and one passion has taken him from urban Texas to southwest Wisconsin: teaching.
"No matter what my job has been, I've always been an educator. As a trumpet section leader, I'm teaching other trumpet players. At the swimming pool, I'm teaching others to swim. If you're a teacher, you're a teacher," said Morris.
Morris spent a decade in the Marine Corps, where he taught music and amphibious warfare. He spent another 25 years as a band director, playing in jazz bands and an orchestra. He has also published books and music.
"That was my life before I went into administration; I lived in the music world," he said.
Before moving to Wisconsin, Morris held a multitude of administrative roles throughout his career, including campus administration, safety and security coordination and director of federal special programs, among many other titles. When his career started to wind down, he found it difficult to keep his foot on the brake.
"I tried retirement for three weeks, and I told my wife I was bored. I've got to do something."
Morris began looking at schools in Wisconsin to continue his career, and the administrative staff at Prairie du Chien made an impression.
"Andy Banasik is 100 percent the reason I came here," said Morris. "His love and passion for kids shined through."
During their conversations about the school, Morris asked Prairie du Chien Administrator Andy Banasik what area the district needed to improve upon the most.
"Andy turned to one of the teachers and asked, 'What do you think it is?' And Ms. Breuer said, 'We're not reaching all of our kids.' Of all the districts I talked to, they were the only ones to give a kid-centric answer."
After that, it was academic (pardon the pun): Morris cancelled the rest of his interviews and became the principal of Prairie du Chien High School in 2022. Bluff View Intermediate School came under his onus in the 2024–25 school year.
"I wish I had moved up here 25 years ago. This is a wonderful community with great kids, and this is the most qualified and competent teaching staff I've seen in 30-some-odd years of education. We have wonderful kids here. It wouldn't surprise me if there is a future king of the world sitting here right now."
Banasik credited Morris with fostering a welcoming atmosphere for students and families and creating consistency when the district needed it.
"He's done great things for our district, for security and making connections with the student body," said Banasik.
Morris submitted his resignation to the Board of Education this past April. His contract and his time in Prairie du Chien end on June 30.
"Hopefully, the schools are in better shape when I leave than when I got there," he said.
Every person ponders what their legacy will be at one point in their lives. Some people want an effigy affirming their greatest accomplishments, and others are worried that their obituary will read like a list of war crimes, but Morris has a different outlook on what a legacy should be. And his perspective is based on a lesson he learned during his first year of teaching.
"I was conducting the second band at Wylie High School in Texas, just outside of Dallas. We're working on the national anthem, and I said, 'Come on, guys, this is really important to me. I was in the Marines, and we've got to do this right.' When rehearsal was over, the head director called me into his office, and he said, 'Doug, don't do that again.'
"And I said, 'What do you mean?' He told me, 'It's not important that they play it right for you. It's important because it's important. It's not about you; it's about what they're doing.'
"That would be my answer to what is my legacy: it's not about me. If I've done my job, they're prepared for me not to be there. That's the legacy: to build something that is more than me."
Although he is leaving Wisconsin, Morris isn't ready for that second try at retirement.
"I don't remember the last time my alarm woke me up in the morning. I wake up before the alarm, excited to come to school. As long as I'm capable of doing that, why would I not come to school? I think I still have things to offer to people."
