Mrs. Lisa Miller at Hazel Green Elementary was pretty shocked when she found out she was the Valley’s Top Teacher.
“My Principal came in and I was like ‘Oh no, another observation.’ And you walked in, I was very surprised,” laughs Lisa Miller, the Valley’s Top Teacher.
Mrs. Miller has been a teacher for nearly 20 years at Hazel Green, but she is a lot more than just an educator to these kindergartners. She helps them with everything from putting on their jackets to cleaning up messes.
“When we are in the lunchroom and we have a chocolate milk and we spill it, then she helps us and she gets that mop and she cleans it up,” shares Kaitlin, a kindergarten student .
“I’m a grandma, I’m a mama, I’m a counselor, I wear a lot of hats in the classroom,” smiles Mrs. Miller.
She really treats her students as if they were her own kids. None of her students went to preschool, so she is their first learning experience. Mrs. Miller helps them grow, and have fun, by learning through play.
“We hug, we have fun, we dance, we dance every day, and we play,” says Mrs. Lisa Miller.
“We read a pumpkin book, there were snowmans on Halloween,” says Hunter, a kindergartner.
But more than helping them learn, she really just wants them to feel loved, included, and invited.
“Every morning when they come in the door, they can choose, we either fist bump, high-five, dance. I just want them to know I love them,” shares Mrs. Miller.
She says throughout the year her kids grow tremendously, but she says watching them grow after kindergarten means the world to her.
“Since we are on the same campus, get to see a lot of my old ‘kinderbabies.’ So it is just really special to see them graduate.”
Mrs. Lisa Miller has created a place full of learning and laughter.
“It’s never a dull moment in Kindergarten.”
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