Alaska Boating Safety Educator of the Year 
(Anchorage, AK) - The Alaska Office of Boating Safety presented its 2010 Boating Safety Educator of the Year award at the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary's District 17 Winter Conference on February 13, 2011. The recipient was Mike Morris, an auxiliary instructor, as well as a state certified Alaska Water Wise instructor, and Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) trainer. 

The Alaska Boating Safety Educator of the Year award recognizes outstanding contributions or performance in educating Alaska's boaters from state-wide nominees.

Mr. Morris has taught from Prince of Wales Island in SE Alaska to Barrow and NW Alaska, and many places in between. In the last nine years Mr. Morris has taught 186 boating and marine safety workshops.

Mike has been teaching boating safety since November 2001 for AMSEA and was one of the first Alaska Water Wise instructors trained. He has also been very active in the USCG Auxiliary as a trainer and is head of the Sitka flotilla. He has been very active as a retired public school teacher in facilitating and teaching classes with numerous groups. His efforts have been tireless in coordinating classes that would not otherwise have been held. Much of this work has been as a volunteer.

He has taught marine and boating safety at Mt. Edgecumbe H.S. in Sitka for many years. Many students have benefitted from his training that would not have otherwise been exposed to boating safety. His teaching is always highly rated in evaluations and he works equally well with children and adults. He has also been involved with training new boating and marine safety educators in many Alaska schools. "Mike has been an outstanding partner in the state's efforts to promote safe and enjoyable boating, especially with Alaska's future boaters," says Joe McCullough, education coordinator with the Alaska Office of Boating Safety.