It was my first day of eighth-grade year. I got my schedule; I thought it was amazing. However, I’d heard many different stories about Mr. Miller. The stories were funny, positive, and crazy in a good way. All the past eighth-graders that had Mr. Miller enjoyed his class. Even though I heard no negative comments about Mr. Miller and his class, I was still nervous. The first thing he said to my class was “Welcome to Eighth Grade, this is your homeroom class, as well as your math class. Who’s ready for a long but awesome and exciting year?” I remember I smiled and said to myself, “ Buckle up, Nicole; this is going to be one crazy year! "

Mr. Miller quickly became my favorite teacher. He stood out to me over all of my other teachers. One thing that I will never forget about him was that he never failed to make me laugh. He always joked around with his students which is why his class was never boring or lifeless. He always made fun of my one friend for liking the Dallas Cowboys. He was only joking, but it sounded like he was serious. Another example of the endless laughs we had in that class would be that there was a student in the class who always asked Mr. Miller for a Pop-Tart. Mr. Miller said, “If you beat me in a race, I will give you the Pop-Tart.” Mr. Miller ended up losing the race and owned up to his bet and gave the student a Pop-Tart. In his class, we always did the most random things, but it’s what made it fun. He always told us corny jokes and went off on random tangents in the middle of lessons. But somehow, we still managed to get everything done which to me is ironic because we had so much fun in that class. 

With all of that being said, that leads me into how Mr. Miller was as a coach. Mr. Miller was one of the coaches for my middle school CO-ED soccer team. I was one of the managers of the team. Managing the team was one of my favorite activities I did that year. I made so many memories that I will never forget. Most of those memories were made because of Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller was always determined towards the team making sure that he made all the practices and games and determined to teach them all that he could. He was determined to make them a successful team. He knew that every good team has at least one weak spot and that every game they played wasn’t going to be a victory. Not only was he determined, but he was also faithful. He had so much faith in the players, that they were always aiming to try their best and they knew what to do in a tough game situation. As a coach, it is always a good thing to be able to give good advice, and he could. It is a good trait because it lets the players know that they can go to him when they have a problem; it also lets them know they can trust him and not only because he’s older but because being older made him wiser, and it shows that he has the patience and generosity to be there for the athletes. Mr. Miller always gave constructive feedback to keep the mindset of the players positive and to also keep them thinking about how they can improve to be the best that they can be. 

But not only was Mr. Miller an outstanding coach, but he was also just as outstanding in the classroom. Mr. Miller taught me Pre-Algebra. I never excelled in math, but Mr. Miller made the topics easy to understand. He always broke the steps down and never moved on until everyone understood. He never forgot to explain all the details and information that were on a test. One of the many goals that Mr. Miller had was to make sure all his students were set up for success. For example, we were starting a new lesson and the start of the lesson was intricate. I didn’t understand one part of the lesson, therefore, I raised my hand and asked him to please explain what he demonstrated,again without hesitation he did. I still did not understand the steps and how to solve the equation, so he slowed down the explanations and started again. As he did that, I understood the material. Mr. Miller had so much patience with his students. I don’t know how he did it, but he did, and that’s what made him one of my favorite and best teachers. 

Mr. Miller never failed to make me laugh, he never failed to teach me, and he never failed to be and do everything the best that he could. He always pushed me to do my best and to never give up. Most of my middle school memories were either made in his class or were made because of him. He made my middle school experience so much better. He is my favorite teacher to this day. I’ll never forget his classes, his jokes, soccer practices, and games with him. He taught me so much. I entered and left his room every day with a smile on my face. That’s why Mr. Miller is my Educator of the Year.