Rewarding career: Kathy Miller

Kathy Miller couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

For the past 20 years Miller has been teaching gifted and talented students. She started in Raymondville, spent 10 years in McAllen — three as an assistant principal — and the last six in Harlingen at Bowie and Milam elementary schools.

Over the years she’s taught from kindergarten to fifth grade.

While Miller gains a tremendous amount of satisfaction from teaching, last year she reached a new level when she wrote her first children’s book, “A Spicy Little Dream.”

She said her students played a major role in her writing the book.

“The books were inspired by my students,” said Miller. “The students were bored. They were miserable. They would come to me down in the dumps, wanting to be involved in something.

They love the book.”

Miller has become somewhat of a celebrity at school. So much so that she’s even been asked for autographed copies of the book.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m still surprised when people ask me where they can buy the book.”

You might say Miller is a self-made woman. She went to school at the University of Texas-Pan American while she already had three kids.

“My husband (Richard Miller) was very supportive,” she said. “I couldn’t have done this without him.”

Her dad was in the Air Force so Miller did a lot of traveling as a child. She spent time in Delaware, New Mexico and Colorado before settling in Texas.

Through the years Miller has had many success stories that make her job all the more rewarding.

Most of her students go on to college. Some practice law while others hold prestigious jobs.

“The big thing is GT kids are allowed to study anything they want,” Miller said. “No one ever lit their fires. The kids didn’t want to learn. Some kids don’t have a lot of resources at home.”

But given the chance under the right conditions, some students thrive.

Miller recalls talking to a second-grade student on a street corner and remembers how bright the child appeared to be. She wanted to get him in the gifted and talented classes.

The only thing, he had to get a perfect score on his test. He did, and now the youngster is a student.

The children face five criteria to get into the classes. Among them is high IQ and recommendations from parents and students. When parents see something special in their children, they get the ball rolling.

Miller has 50 students at Milam and 20 at Bowie.

___

Submit Slice of Life suggestions to Managing Editor Lucio Castillo or City Editor Charlene Vandini at 430-6244 or charlenev@valleystar.com.