Morris scores MISD Pathfinder Award

Jordan Morris has scored the Mercer Island School District’s ninth annual Pathfinder Award.

The 2013 Mercer Island High School (MIHS) graduate is currently playing professional soccer for Seattle Sounders FC and hit the pitch with Team USA at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

While those are “achievements worthy of the Pathfinder Award, it is his off-field support of children with diabetes that show his strength of character and citizenship that inspire today’s youth, which is the ultimate goal of the Pathfinder Award,” according to a school district press release.

Morris, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 9 years old, created the Jordan Morris Foundation to ensure diabetes does not define the lives of the volumes of children living with it today, reads the press release. The foundation’s website states that its mission is to educate, inspire and support children living with Type 1 diabetes through community outreach and fundraising to support a variety of programs.

On the site, Morris notes: “I’m blessed to be given this platform. I would like to reach as many young people with diabetes as possible, in order to show them that T1D doesn’t have to keep them from achieving their dreams.”

Because of team commitments, Morris cannot attend the Mercer Island Schools Foundation Breakfast of Champions at MIHS on April 30 where he will be honored. Morris speaks of his MIHS experiences and thanks the community for supporting him in a recorded video message about being selected as the 2024 Pathfinder Award recipient.

MIHS assistant principal Erica Hill, who Morris has identified as his favorite teacher while at MIHS, will introduce the video message at the breakfast. After the video is shown, the Pathfinder Award will be presented to Morris’s parents, Leslie and Mike, who will be attending the breakfast.