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Miller\u2019s sister, Shont\u00e1 Lamb, who passed away in 2014, was also a special education teacher and worked at Skills Development before teaching in the comprehensive developmental classroom (CDC) at Thomas School and Southside Elementary. Lamb\u2019s experience working with special needs adults gave Miller a new perspective on her students\u2019 future and the importance of their early education. Upon her sister\u2019s passing, Miller took over her sister\u2019s CDC class and continues to honor her vision and passion for their best life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said, \u201cShont\u00e1 saw these grown women and men who, if their parents passed away \u2014 and they would eventually because they were older \u2014 would not be able to live an independent life. They would have to go into a group home or a state institution because they didn\u2019t have enough skills to stay in a more independent setting. So when she talked about teaching those adults skills, she really helped me see that it\u2019s so important for them to start getting those skills independently when they\u2019re little. And so it kind of changed the focus of what I was doing. Special education has changed its focus, just like regular education. Some of it\u2019s for the better; some of it\u2019s not, but years ago, all they worried about was life skills, and now they\u2019re more concerned about academics. But the reality is, they need a nice balance of useful academics and life skills.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miller, who\u2019s taught at Southside her entire career, has been connected to the school her whole life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe kids think it\u2019s crazy when I say I was in this room in first grade. Now, here we are in this room, and I\u2019m teaching. I\u2019ve been here a long time,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Miller is not presently teaching special education, her first grade class is an inclusion classroom, allocating time for special education students to experience the class with the general education students. Having taught both groups, combining the two is still challenging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She said, \u201cIt\u2019s harder because you want to do so much with every student, but there are so many demands to be met that it\u2019s difficult to spend the time that you want to spend, to do the things that you want to do to meet every child\u2019s needs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But regardless of which group she\u2019s teaching, a sign in her classroom affirms her teaching philosophy: \u201cAll children are gifted; some just open their package sooner than others.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller said, \u201cI truly believe that every child can learn, and every child deserves to have an education that is tailored to them. Sometimes it\u2019s more challenging than others, but it\u2019s never not an option.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeing that these students experience education the same as general education students is her passion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe they should experience everything their general education counterparts experience. They should get to do fun things, go on field trips, do science experiments, and have hands-on fun. It\u2019s been my mission to make sure that happens,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each group is special to Miller and brings joy to her days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She said of her general education first graders, \u201cI love the little kiddos. They love on you, and they want to bring you presents and draw you a picture. They\u2019re still at that age where it\u2019s exciting to come to school, and they\u2019re happy. And you still get to see the light bulb come on when they learn, and they\u2019re so proud when they master a skill we\u2019ve been working on.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n And she\u2019s proud of them, too, not just while they\u2019re in her classroom, but for the rest of their lives, she\u2019s watching and cheering for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI tell my kids, \u2018you\u2019re mine, and you\u2019ll be mine for the rest of your life. I\u2019ll be watching your future always,\u2019 and I do. I\u2019m friends with so many of my grownup students who are teachers now. Some students bring their babies back to show me, and now I\u2019m teaching their children. I\u2019ve got children of children in my classroom, and I love it. I enjoy keeping up with them, seeing how they do, and then seeing their lives progress. I\u2019m so proud of them when they choose their life path, succeed, and then have kids and bring those kids back to see me. It\u2019s super rewarding,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teaching truly is Miller\u2019s calling, and the best for her students\u2019 future is her mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller said, \u201cI love my students, and I\u2019m in their lives for as long as they want me to be. l love them all. Every child deserves the chance to learn and have fun while they\u2019re learning. If they\u2019re not learning and having fun while they\u2019re learning, then I\u2019m not doing my job.\u201d GN\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LYNNA MILLER\u2019S students are a part of her life forever, each becoming one of her kiddos. But some put the \u201cspecial\u201d in education \u2014 a field Miller has been actively involved in for more than 30 years.\u00a0 An early classwork finisher in grade school, Miller was allowed to assist with Southside Elementary School special education […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/DSC_0890-1024x683.jpg\")
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