You may see him holding a sign that says,”SMILE!” walking around the school halls or all around campus talking to everyone. Someone who is passionate about both education and enjoying every moment life has to offer is Dr. Jorge Morales.

He mentions that this is his fourth continuous year at SEMHS but tenth year overall in the district. Starting as an instructional aid back when the school opened, he saw how the teachers connected with the students so positively and decided he too loved to help others achieve success.

Now that he is principal he says, “I’d like for students and staff to work towards common goals and help complete them by being involved as much as possible.”  There are a lot of resources on campus, students just have to reach out and take the opportunity. He gladly expressed his greatest inspiration, “My mother for she was that strong foundation. I knew I could come to her for unconditional love and support. She is a leader and that made me who I am today.”

Like many of us, Dr. Morales is a huge sports fanatic. If it’s not an Eagle game, he likes to watch the local sports team. In a way he sees that sports correlate to daily work ethic. “If we look at it from a perspective, we can see that it teaches us how to prepare, strategize, and work with others,” he says. A little competition is what keeps us on our toes too.

After graduating high school, he went to Citrus College for 2 years, transferred over to Cal State LA for a bachelor’s, then Cal Poly for administration and left with a degree in Educational Leadership. Dr. Morales was content with his accomplishments then decided one day to apply at USC for the doctorate program. He indicated what his aspirations were prior to becoming an administrator by stating, “I didn’t always want to be a teacher. I actually wanted to be a lawyer. I was passionate about justice and politics. But then I realized the specific detail on law and just decided it wasn’t for me. I still like to keep tabs on current events but I love what I am doing now.”

Seeing Dr. Morales be a role model, has motivated many students to go out there and take what’s in front of you. His ultimate motto is to trust the process and work toward something. It’s always good to “strive to improve at least 1% better.” Dr. Morales’ message to students and those who need motivation, “ Trust your smarts, share talents, match interests, commit, dedicate, be humble, and stay grounded. There is always a better opportunity within reach. Take a risk.”