Griffin-Spalding teacher Lisa Miller: Coming home to teach
Lisa Miller of Moreland Road Elementary.
Here is another installment in UGA professor Peter Smagorinsky’s Great Georgia Teacher series. This essay focuses on Lisa Miller of Moreland Road Elementary School in the Griffin-Spalding County Schools.
By Peter Smagorinsky
The issue of safety in elementary schools has been a topic of national discussion since the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. Although opinions vary on how to achieve the goal of ensuring the safety of students, teachers, administrators, and others who occupy the building, everyone agrees on the need for schools to be safe places so that teachers and students can pursue the educational mission with focus and enthusiasm.
For kindergarten teacher Lisa Miller of Moreland Road Elementary School in the Griffin-Spalding County Schools, where she was named the system’s Teacher of the Year in 2009, a safe environment is of paramount importance. Not, however, in the sense that drives the national debate about school safety.
Rather, Lisa is concerned with the emotional safety that her students need to feel in order to find school a supportive and nurturing place. “It is my responsibility to create an environment that is positive and conducive to learning,” she says. “Students that feel safe to explore their thoughts and ideas will be encouraged to strive to gain more knowledge and skills and will be more likely to continue to seek knowledge once they leave my classroom.”
Those of us who have sent our own children to school know what she’s talking about. Of course, we want violence-free environments for our school learning. But on a daily basis, we want our children to have the more general feeling of emotional safety, which serves to enable young people—particularly those in preschool and kindergarten programs that provide their first exposure to education and its socialization mission—to navigate their surroundings with the belief that they are in the hands of a caring, dedicated adult.
Teachers like Lisa Miller provide such settings, and great Georgia teachers like her have for generations made schools the center of community life, a supportive extension of loving homes, and a harbor for children whose families cannot provide the love and resources that they deserve.
Her principal at Moreland Road Elementary, Stan Mangham, recognizes and appreciates these contributions, saying, “I, along with every parent of every child she has taught, am grateful she is a part of our school and system and wish we had more teachers of her caliber among us. . . . Moreland Road is blessed to have you here educating our children. You possess an uplifting, nurturing spirit and surround your children with love, compassion, and warmth.”
He describes Lisa as “an outstanding teacher who deserves any and all accolades that come her way. She is very unassuming and never seeks recognition herself, but is very deserving.” In addressing her in honor of being the county Teacher of the Year, he said, “You represent all that we aspire to be and accomplish day to day tasks with honor, grace, and elegance. You are the face of Moreland Road and we are fortunate to have you as our representative, co-worker, and friend.”
Lisa is a native of Griffin-Spalding County and a proud graduate of its public school system, through which she has also sent her own children. After getting her B.A. at Mercer University and master’s from Central Michigan, she returned to teach in her hometown area in 1990.
“As a kindergarten teacher, I know that a child’s first teacher is their family and they are sometimes influenced by society. Emphasizing the connection between home, school and community is important because children’s well-being is affected by decisions made from each group,” says Lisa.
Lisa’s excellence as a teacher is evident in the testimonials given by those who surround her. She is, says one admirer, “the epitome of a teacher. She goes to sleep each night dreaming about her class and wakes up thinking of ways in which she can be a better leader for the 20 or so young minds that she encounters each day. As a kindergarten teacher, she understands that it is her responsibility to provide a firm educational foundation that will last her students the rest of their lives. . . . Our family and friends have long since known how dedicated you are to your craft. We are all proud that you are getting the public recognition you deserve. Congratulations from a very proud son! (I feel like you should have a crown or something).” OK, so that’s her son speaking. But I’d be proud too.
Her colleagues appreciate her as well. Fellow teacher Linda Birath has written, “Congratulations, No one deserves this [Teacher of the Year] honor more. I am so glad I had the privilege of working with you over the years. It has always been obvious that you love the children and you love your ‘job.’ It is great that you have finally been recognized for the wonderful job you have always done. You are much more than at teacher. You are a role model for life and your Christian values show in everything you do.”
Ms. Birath makes several points worth emphasizing. One is her placement of “job” in quotation marks, suggesting that Lisa Miller epitomizes Confucius’s ancient wisdom: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Like any great teacher, Lisa undertakes her work with a passion that makes it a labor of love, a disposition that appears to be shared by many of her friends and colleagues.
The second concerns Ms. Birath’s grounding of Lisa’s dedication to teaching in her religious faith. In a previous profile in this series of Bettina Polite Tate, I made a similar point, one that was received with varying degrees of acceptance by the blog commenters. I should reiterate that I am not personally a religious person, and so am not using Lisa’s example to convert you to any particular faith.
What I do see in Lisa’s embodiment of biblical values is her embrace of her savior’s value on compassion. No matter what serves as its motivation, compassion is a quality that great teachers have, in that it drives them to care for students in profound and meaningful ways. They care about their academic development, but just as importantly they care for and nurture their growth as good citizens, family members, friends, and loved ones. Ultimately, those qualities are at least as important as any scores on math or spelling tests.
Lisa’s classroom excellence is only part of her work for her community. She has worked for the March for Babies, a March of Dimes charity that provides assistance so babies begin life healthy. I see this volunteer work going hand-in-hand with her decision to teach at the kindergarten level, a time of great sensitivity to students in their physical, emotional, and academic development.
In past articles for the AJC’s Get Schooled blog, I have made the case that teachers are the heart and soul of every school. Lisa Miller shows how big that heart can be, and the kind of soul it grows. Lisa Miller is more than a teacher in an isolated room of kids. She has a bigger presence, one that uplifts her school and community and makes the educational experience critical and fulfilling. That’s hard to measure with numbers, but tangible in terms of the inspiration and care that people recognize in her contributions. That’s my kind of teacher, and one all Georgians can be proud to have in our schools.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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68 comments Add your comment
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
3:02 am
I think most students are more concerned with chasing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and if their pencil has a point on it so that they can draw the butterfly or do their times-table.
Funny
March 20th, 2013
7:51 am
BKM I don’t think anyone on this blog especially me, meant in any way to make your Mom sound anything but the great teacher she is. I just wanted everyone to know that while she is outstanding she is the “norm” for teachers in this state. Teachers are getting a really bad rap these days and I do not want people thinking that only a select few are doing their job. I think I would have read the essay with a different take if the orginal title had not stated that your mother alone was the heart and soul of her school. A better title would have been “Here is another example of the great teachers we have in the state of Georgia.” I hope at the AJC will learn from this essay and print more essays about ALL the wonderful educators we have in this state. I said educators to include anyone who works in a school from the lunch ladies, bus drivers, janitors, secretaries, bookkeeper,parp-pros, and the many others that I don’t have time to list. So BKM do not take these blogs personal, you know your Mom is great and have did a wonderful job defending her. Join me in encouraging the AJC to print more essay about great educators.
Mary Elizabeth
March 20th, 2013
10:44 am
@ Private Citizen, 2:58 am
Private citizen, I had taught students for 35 years and I know what I am talking about in this regard. Moreover, I had received notes from students and parents which gave testimony to the fact that my perceptions about this are accurate. As an Instructional Lead Teacher, I had observed the differing emotional dynamics between students and their teachers in grades 1 – 7. Also, I had received evaluations, myself, from administrators who could ascertain that my students responded so well to the academic content which I delivered to them because of the mutual respect and care that were present between my students and me.
How many years did you spend teaching students in public schools? I think you are simply blind, for whatever reason, regarding this very real, positive dynamic between students and their teachers, in many classrooms.
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
11:26 am
How many years did you spend teaching students in public schools?
Not 35 years, that’s for sure.
I think you are simply blind, for whatever reason, regarding this very real, positive dynamic between students and their teachers, in many classrooms.
And I think you are illustrating a certain dynamic that occurs with “star teachers.” I am little more egalitarian in my view. In my world, every teacher in the building is a “star teacher” and no one or two and their principal friend has a connect on “special mutual respect” which means, in this approach, that the other 90% are not special. You’re really advocating a values caste system where you just happen to be at the top. Professionally, it’s petty. As far as production, it’s inefficient. As far as ego, it is completely off the charts.
Maybe I’m just used to being around too many good people in the work environment. I see I have hit a nerve with you. Well, maybe that nerve needs to see the light of day and some cold air. By elevating yourself, you are treating your colleague people as “other.” There are plenty of principals who will do the two-step with you. There are also work environment where this does not happen and no one would play along with such a rigged system to plateau the appointed above their worker peers. It is really a subject of “labor management” is what we are talking about. You see it one way, where your role is at the top of the very top, and with management enabling, and I see it another way, where workers are on a level playing and competency and emotional wellness is the norm.
OriginalProf
March 20th, 2013
11:55 am
This entire blog-thread is unusually intense in its bitterness and anger directed at poor Lisa Miller; and as I think about it, the same thing happened with an earlier essay by Professor Smagorinsky about a teacher living out her faith as an educator in one of Savannah’s poorer schools. I really have come to think that what both teachers have in common is that they are black females; and what is being attacked is the characteristic black form of Protestant religious expression, so different from white Protestantism. In other words, the vehemence is explained by racism, directed at black female teachers who have been designated by their peers as superior teachers.
There are the references by Another Comment on March 18 at 8:26 pm to “Holy Roller Jesus as my Saviour stuff” and “Evangelical Christians,” none of which are to be found in the actual essay. There are these words by Private Citizen at 4:56 pm yesterday: “…“blessings” which is rather common peasant-talk in Georgia.” No, that’s common black talk, as in “have a blessed day.”
I remember another such essay of praise by Professor Smagorinsky about a white male Biology teacher that called forth nothing but congratulations from bloggers.
Ms. Miller and your son BKM, please consider the sources of these hateful words. It’s just more of the Deep Southern tradition.
Maureen Downey
March 20th, 2013
12:05 pm
@Original Prof, I have seen an odd and perverse theme. Report positively on an individual or a school and there is an immediate backlash against them. Cite schools doing better than expected and people complain they aren’t doing well enough. Cite good teachers or award-winning ones and people complain that they are not really extraordinary or the selection process was flawed.
Maureen
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
12:08 pm
This entire blog-thread is unusually intense in its bitterness and anger directed at poor Lisa Miller
There is no one directing the slightest bit of bitterness or anger toward this featured teacher, anything but. There is some discussion on ancillary topics, just as there should be. What is the “southern meme” is apology culture. And you won’t find any rich people tell you the black/white rural saying of “have a blessed day” and if you think it is only a black-culture saying, you are both faking-it and misinformed!!! Hey, get out of the house and walk the walk before you start telling people what’s happening on the street. And race-baiting to the moooon, I might add. Government / religion events been going on for centuries across continents / many heretics beheaded by the living enlightened who also happen to have the power (well, imagine that).
Prof, the only “southern tradition” going on here is your friggin massive ignorance and using race-baiting for cover.
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
12:12 pm
Prof,
Please review this link concerning the mixing of church and state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_burned_as_heretics
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
12:18 pm
And it is a church and state matter, as you have a state professor featured two “Christ talk” government teachers. That makes three government education workers and their commending principals all doing “praise God.” Government is one thing. Church is another. When you mix the two, bad things happen.
There is one real zinger take away from this post, in the state ranked 48th in scores and such (and yes it is real, just go spend some time somewhere else where people both have a vocabulary and can do math), the one zinger is emotional wellness of the children is more important that math and reading. (You can find the quote in above comment where the “chucrch speak” is listed).
I am surprised that no one else is not more keen on the significance of this, but may it is like going to the swamp and complaining about the mosquitoes.
Mary Elizabeth
March 20th, 2013
12:20 pm
@ Original Prof, 11:55 am
“Ms. Miller and your son BKM, please consider the sources of these hateful words. It’s just more of the Deep Southern tradition.”
==========================================
I totally agree with your assessment in your 11:55 am post, Original Prof. Thank you for shining light upon some of the underlying reasons that some of the posters on this thread have communicated such bitterly hurtful and irrational remarks on a thread that was meant simply to highlight the excellence of an outstanding, caring teacher.
I hope that Lisa Miller will recognize that, although some remain blinded in their judgments by covert racism, many others applaud her outstanding efforts as a competent and caring teacher. From what I have read about Lisa Miller in Professor Smagorinsky’s excellent essay, above, I believe that she will not be negatively affected by the negative remarks on this thread because I believe that Lisa Miller has a spirit that is magnanimous enough even to forgive others their small-mindedness and bitterness, directed on this thread at her.
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
12:41 pm
although some remain blinded in their judgments by covert racism
No no no, Mary Elizabeth. I’m not going to let you to get away with that. There is no one practicing racism here. Yes, you are pulling out the “race card.” Where did that come from? You should own your own actions. And if you want to attribute to someone, then make a quote. You’re an academic and this is a printed weblog. If you are going to do something so outrageous as accuse “some” of racism, you’ve got a couple of pages to locate your “evidence.” What you are practicing is both unfair and dishonest. What you are doing is practicing “control.” Well, fine, but don’t treat people as “race” objects and call other people “racist” just because you want to direct the dialogue. There is nothing “small minded” about calling out the level of church-speech going on in this context of government school teaching, which has laws and principals about basically keeping your personal religion to yourself in the workplace as a means of respect to the autonomy of other people.
You are mistaken to be dismissive and call these observations “small minded.” Read this link if it will help you out. http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/03/18/griffin-spalding-teacher-lisa-miller-heart-and-soul-of-her-school/?cp=all#comment-269208
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
12:59 pm
It’s that shining hearty beacon photo of Ms Miller that allows this important discussion about mixing up government and religion.
From the photo, if I was to to “guess race,” I’d guess Aztec Indian.
Pride and Joy
March 20th, 2013
5:03 pm
Originalprof, you went way out in looney looney land when you said that posters are attacking this teacher because she is a black woman. MOST APS and Dekalb school teachers are black women, particularly in the elemetary schools.
What IS at common here is the AUTHOR, PETER.
PETER pulled out a trite cliche to describe the teacher as THE heart and soul of the school.
PETER’s STATEMENT, not the teacher or her gender or race is at issue here.
To say THE heart and soul is to say that no one else is the heart and soul.
As a parent, I resent that. As teachers, well, they felt slighted and they should feel that way. More than one teacher in a school has heart and sould(compassion and kindness.
In addition, it is FOOLISH for the author to post this quote by an admirer “You are a role model for life and your Christian values show in everything you do.”
CHRISTIAN values?
So I guess Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians are left out?
See how inflammatory that remark is?
And remember, NONE of these things were said by the teacher herself. They were quotes by others which were foolishly included by Peter.
That’s what all the hub-ub is about and personally, I don’t want any of my children’s teachers teaching through Christian values. Although I am a Christian, not all of us have the same values. My children are not the AME or Baptist Christians so I don;t want those values taught to my children.
It’s the MESSENGER, PETER, who is wrong here, certainly not the teacher.
And the backlash certainly isn’t because the teacher is a black woman.
Talk about someone locked and loaded and ready to shoot the race gun…sheesh.
OriginalProf
March 20th, 2013
6:05 pm
Lisa Miller, as the headline states, teaches in Griffin-Spalding County Schools, not APS or DeKalb. And what is wrong with her showing her Christian values, leaving out Jewish, Muslim, or non-Christian values? She’s not a Jew, Muslim, or non-Christian person! And if they were quotes by others, why do you attribute them to her? The specifically “religious” value she is said to show is “compassion,” common also to those other religions.
I stand behind what I wrote. I question why there has been such envy and hostility shown to her, in language by some that is code for “black Christians.”
Mary Elizabeth
March 20th, 2013
6:59 pm
@ OriginalProf, 6:05 pm
“I question why there has been such envy and hostility shown to her, in language by some that is code for ‘black Christians.’ ”
================================================
I question that, also, and I agree with your assessment.
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
8:37 pm
You two got some kind of race / religion head trip that you are assigning to other people. You’re really pushing stereotypes and using the teacher you so love as an object to express your own preoccupation with race. That you do this and then use it in debate is completely deplorable.
As far as the race of the person in the photo, I am guessing Inuit and that that lady can make a seal-skin canoe like nobody’s business. She sure isn’t a snooty land-grant Brit and that’s A-Okay by me.
And prof, you really need to get out of the condo and take a drive and maybe go sit in court and hear one of these “Christian fundamentalist” judges just put the coal on people. You are really really REALLY naive about how this stuff plays out in local politics and how the “higher view” is used to keep many of the people dumb and broken courtesy of the courts. Oh You got pulled over because you had a taillight out? Why that will be $400. but I tell you what, I will reduce it to $240. + expenses (note: “expenses” are $100.), if you go to church 6 times and bring me the program. By the way, what church do you do to? Are you a member of a church?”
Prof, I heard this stuff in a court within the last month or two. And you and Peter and Liza May and whoever are just removed and naive from the little local Talibans running Georgia. If you do not have to deal with it, you should HAVE A BLESSED DAY.
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
9:59 pm
Here is an instance of racism from California, in case you have forgotten what it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuO_AXUqI0E#t-31m32s
Private Citizen
March 20th, 2013
10:01 pm
… had a typo in the link. This is the correct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuO_AXUqI0E#t=31m32s