Meet Your PrincipalMENTONE - Katie Miller took a road less traveled to become Mentone Elementary School's principal.
"My story is different than everyone else's," she said during an interview Nov. 2.
Miller did not go to college until she was 31 years old. By that time, her children were 10, 9 and 6 years old. She attended Indiana University-Kokomo, receiving her bachelor's degree in elementary education. She was motivated to do well in school, she said, because her grades were posted on the refrigerator next to her children's grades.Katie married her farmer husband Charlie when she was 19 years old. Charlie and Katie have been married 31 years now and have three children. Son Joe is married with one child and one on the way; Sarah is a nurse in the Kosciusko Community Hospital emergency room; and Greg farms full time with Charlie.
Charlie is a full-time farmer, and they live south of Rochester. Katie said her commute is about 20 minutes, which gives her time to gear up for work or time to unwind.
After earning her bachelor's degree in December 1994, then-Akron Elementary School Principal Brett Boggs hired her as an aide. In 1995, Miller started working at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School as an eighth-grade English teacher.
She began taking some classes toward her master's degree. She enrolled at IPFW, Fort Wayne, and finished her degree in August 2001. That same month, she started working at Mentone Elementary as the principal.
"It's my ninth year here as principal," Miller said.
"I just wanted to have more of an impact on kids," she said of why she pursued a career as a principal. "I felt I could do more in administration.
"It takes a lot of patience and a willingness to commit to do whatever it takes to get the job done. You have to have a passion for kids."
One way to help students is by helping families, too. As a principal, she can work with families to benefit the children.
Being a principal is a challenging job. Miller compared it to the plate spinners on the "Ed Sullivan Show". The plate spinner gets the plates spinning, but always has to make sure one doesn't stop or fall off. As a principal, there's always something to do, something new to address, always something to keep the principal busy.
"I don't mean that in a negative way. I thrive on always being busy. I have a hard time relaxing," said Miller.
The best part about the job, Miller said, is "the kids. Every day there's something funny or fun that happens and I get to hear about it. The kindergartners treat me like a rock star."
Miller said students talk to her every day. She likes it that the children feel comfortable enough with her that they can just approach her and talk.
As for goals for the school, Miller said the ultimate goal is that they can never be content with meeting a goal. They can always go faster, get better and move forward.
"The goal would be to provide students with the best possible education in an environment where they feel valued and cared for," Miller said.
At Mentone, she said the school is moving forward. Accountability and ISTEP scores are improving annually. Mentone has Readers and Writers Workshop, a full-time literacy coach and a part-time math coach. Mentone also is involved in SWOOP for students in kindergarten through second grade.
"Literacy is our primary focus as a school and a district," said Miller.
Mentone also has the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program. Students are recognized with Bulldog Bucks for being respectful, responsible or safe. The bucks are put into a box, and three Bulldog Bucks for every grade level are drawn for recognition.
The focus, Miller said, is on positive rather than negative behavior. The contrast to the Bulldog Bucks is the discipline ticket. If a student receives six discipline tickets, they have to see the principal. At the start of this school year, however, there were four Bulldog Bucks given out for every one discipline ticket.
"That's pretty cool," Miller said.
Besides the students, Miller also praised the people she works with at Mentone.
"We have a great staff here and it's a very collaborative environment," said Miller. "We all support each other. We're like a family. We take care of each other. It was like that when I got here, but I've been blessed to walk into it."
Mentone's parents have been very supportive. Even with good parental involvement, Miller said the school wants to keep improving on that as parental involvement is good for the students.
Another program offered at Mentone Elementary is the Support Team for Autism Resources. STAR was started by teachers in the school. It is open to all and any parents interested in learning and talking more about autism. They have guest speakers, round table discussions and other resources for parents. They meet on the third Thursday of every month. The next STAR is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. at Mentone Elementary.
"We're a pretty neat school," Miller said of all that goes on at Mentone. "Some people think we're a country school, but we're not really. We have 525 students in grades kindergarten to fifth grade. It's a great place for kids. And it's a great place to work."
