Many are aware of Miss Green Country’s alter ego, but for those who are lost – she is a teacher. I have been teaching through Teach For America (a two year commitment) since early August, in a Tulsa head start on the east side of town. By day, I am just “Ms. Mills.” I am a pre-kindergarten teacher who works with colors, shapes, numbers, letters, writing, reading, social emotional skills, and everything in between. As a teacher, I also make sure the kids have brushed their teeth twice a day, lay out the mats, set up family style dining, clean up messes and sanitize every thing in sight with bleach water mixed daily. I break up fights, wipe snot from faces, and teach four year olds how to prepare for kindergarten and beyond.
Basically, my job is anything but glamorous.
As previously mentioned, my MTLD (manager of teacher leadership and development through TFA) is the current Miss New Mexico USA and has been so helpful in finding ways to implement my title into my classroom. At the beginning of October I decided to utilize my crown as an investment strategy. Several of my kids want to be “firemen,” “police girls,” “princesses,” or “karate kid” when they grow up, so I devised a plan…
Each month I am going to invite a minimum of 1 community leader to my classroom to pump them up about going to college. By introducing the idea of higher education now, my students are SO much more likely to see college as a big goal and an attainable one at that. Teach For America is highly focused on the idea that every child, regardless of where they were born or level of income, deserves an excellent education. This meaning that we are trying to close the achievement gap and propel our youth into a positive future filled with possibilities.
The first visitor? Well, Miss Green Country of course!
Finding a way to explain what “Miss Green Country” was to a group of four-year-olds was a bit tricky! I gathered them in our morning circle after going through our morning learning time and told them I had a big surprise. I explained that when Ms. Mills is not at school, she is Miss Green Country. Basically, she is a princess in Oklahoma! (Cue every girls’ eyes totally falling out of their head – adorable!). Beyond that, Ms. Mills is a princess in Oklahoma, but she wants to grow up to be the queen of Oklahoma. Then, if she becomes the queen of Oklahoma, she can work hard and possibly become the queen of America!
By this point, I was honestly shocked at how captivated they were. I then asked what they thought Miss Green Country needed to do in order to become the queen of Oklahoma. First, I reminded them that, just like for them to go to Kindergarten, she has to know her letters, numbers, colors and shapes! She is also very helpful, nice to ALL her friends, and uses nice words. Somehow…it was working! We then did “Share the News,” part of each morning where we partner up and take turns answering the question. I had the kids chat about what else Miss Green Country needed to do in order to become the queen! They loved this!
I passed around the crown and some used it as a steering wheel, while others knew exactly how to put it on! Needless to say…they were a little excited. Some were still a bit confused as to how their teacher was also a princess….but at the end of the day, we knew that each of us would have to work hard and get smart in order to go to Kindergarten OR become Miss Oklahoma!
Miss South OKC 