Sarah Miller

I attribute my success to my passion for learning, which has sustained me throughout my 33-year career. I started out as someone who struggled in school because I didn't see the relevance. I loved learning, but school seemed more about compliance than falling in love with learning. I grew up knowing I wanted to make a difference in education. Since students spend the majority of their waking hours in an institutional building, there ought to be opportunities for everyone to enjoy their learning environments and feel heard, seen, represented, and valued. My goal is to enhance the educational environment for America's future citizens. What really changed everything for me was earning her certification in culturally responsive pedagogy. It taught me to become conscious of my own preferences, to design classrooms where everyone, including the teacher, feels both comfortable and uncomfortable at different times, and to genuinely foster a sense of belonging for all. Before receiving that certification, I believed I was a good teacher, but it drastically changed the impact of my instruction. My success stems from maintaining my enthusiasm for the work, spending most of my time with the children rather than attending meetings, and consistently believing that change is achievable and that hard work makes the work wonderful and fulfilling.

My grandmother, who was an educator, told me to always accept where my students are and to know that it is my responsibility to inspire them to the next level, and my father told me to focus on cleaning my own doorstep before trying to clean others. That's how you move forward.

It is an exciting time to be involved in education because society is changing so quickly; the educational system is well-positioned to embrace innovative ideas. Share your knowledge, creativity, passion, and service to establish lasting systemic structures that create learning environments where participants love learning, honor differences, value diversity, and celebrate humanity's commonalities. You can have a successful, rewarding career in education; as she is most proud of the coffee shop she created, a student-run one that had a used bookstore and was called "Cup of Knowledge," she received Teacher of the Year in 1999.

One of the greatest challenges in education is to create the changes necessary for the system to continuously evolve, where the learning environments are spaces where all young scholars are seen, heard, and valued. Adults need to have resources and tools to support themselves in change, resilience, awareness, and adaptability. It is also a rewarding challenge to support every student who needs me, as I am very passionate about their education and about helping them reach their personal goals.

One important value to me is service. I've learned that if you want a joyful life, you really need to learn to serve. That's where I find my joy: in serving and supporting students and families. I was raised to be generous. My mom sometimes says I'm too generous, and I tell her that's how she and my dad raised me. I never want to be in a place where I regret not giving or supporting someone. I've thought out how I'm going to make my mistakes, and if I make mistakes because I was too generous, so be it. It's not about the money for me. It's about making an impact and supporting students to have the learning environments they deserve, and I definitely appreciate the money so I can support myself and those in my care. I also believe strongly in the power of joy, happiness, and laughter. Joy and happiness heal, and you have to make sure you're having a little bit of fun every day. I'm motivated by knowing there are so many wonderful people doing wonderful things, and I want to be part of that. Another top-priority value is authenticity. To create spaces of belonging, people need to be able to authentically show up as themselves. When authenticity is valued, people can explore their self-awareness and social awareness without the unhealthy pressure to fit in or conform to the power dynamics present in spaces.