When I was in elementary school,  I liked to watch the show The Magic School Bus, and I always wanted a teacher as fun and as comical as Ms. Frizzle.  I got my wish when I entered my  sixth grade year and was taught religion by Miss. Mills. In her class she had us do a lot of activities, some fun and some boring, but in the end we always had a good time. She later became my math teacher for the last two years of my middle school life, and she unexpectedly became my personal guidance counselor.

     As I entered my seventh grade year, I was put in a class that surprised me a little, but I tried to adapt. About midway into the school year things became strange; my once “friends” seemed to become quite unfriendly. I was depressed, and I was left without a real friend in the school.  I felt alone. Well, my mom and I had many talks with the principal, but very little action was taken in an effort to relieve the bullying. One day Miss. Mills pulled me out of class, pretending that she needed my help with something, but once we left the classroom she asked what was up. I asked her why,  and her response was, “I heard that you were being bullied and left out of things”. She said for me to come during lunch and talk to her about the situation. I went, and I just opened up and told her everything. The whole time she  listened and paid close attention. Since that very time I knew I could trust her and I could go back and talk with her. She was my hope in a year that seemed like it would never end. She never gave up on me, and the whole time she gave me support and guidance.

     In addition to teaching and helping people with personal problems, she also started up many clubs for any age or gender for the school. She created the Math Club, a club to have fun with math in different ways, and Girls Club, a way for girls of any age to come to her classroom and have fun without being bothered by boys. During the summer, she held sports camps and craft camps, where the kids could go and have fun. During the clubs and camps she would get to know you personally, whether you were in her grade or not. During any season, you would always see Miss Mills cheering on the students at different sporting events. During times like Homecoming or championships, she would give an announcement at school saying to come out and support the team. She was most definitely the most supportive teacher.  She was supportive both inside and outside of the classroom.

     When preparing to choose what high school to attend, we could always rely on Miss. Mills to help give us guidance and advice.  Every year she would have a Math Fair, where students would prepare projects, similar to a science fair, to be examined and graded. Every Math Fair she would invite high schools from around the area to come and set up tables for kids to see what the schools were like and their math programs. This was very helpful in deciding what we would like to do and where we would want to go for high school. We would be given projects where we could choose a future occupation of our own, and decide what we would want to do with ourselves later on in that line of work. Among my eighth grade teachers, I personally feel like she was the one who prepared us best for high school. She taught us that in high school, and life, there were no excuses. She taught us that we would all go into high school as equals, and we would need to always work hard to get to where we want to be in the future.  Miss Mills has a strong work ethic, and she tried her best to instill that in her students.

     Miss Mills should win the Educator of the Year for many reasons. She was a teacher that gave hope to all those in darkest times, and she would teach the truth of what to expect for our futures and lives.  No matter what happened you would always see a smile on her face; she would always have a positive attitude. When she taught, she taught so kids could learn for their benefit. Teaching was just not a job to her.  She went to her job to make our futures a little bit brighter. Miss. Mills has a spirit inside her that strives to do better, and that spirit rubs off on her students. No matter what, I will always look up to Miss Mills as both a role model and a common day hero. That is why she is my nomination for Teen Inc.’s Educator of the Year.