Christina Miller is not only a Twin Rivers High School graduate, she has spent the last 20 years serving as a counselor at the high school campus.
In the upcoming 2022-2023 school year, Miller will be taking on a new role as principal at the Fisk campus.
“I grew up down there on that campus,” said Miller. “My mom was a second-grade teacher there for 31 years. Even after I graduated, I was helping her with her classroom and stuff so it’s kind of like going home.”
Well-rounded in her education, Miller received her bachelor’s degree in middle school education from Missouri State University and her master’s degree in school counseling from Southeast Missouri State University. She went on to earn a specialist degree in administration from William Woods University.
“It was a little bit of a surprise this summer when the position (for principal) came open and I just felt like it was time to help my district in a different way moving into a leadership role and to be able to help our campus continue to grow,” she said.
When asked what spurred the decision to make the move from long-time counselor to a role as principal Miller said, “I have known that I eventually wanted to move into administration. I love being a school counselor, but I’m excited to take on more of a leadership role helping our school district.”
The new principal says she is not anticipating any significant changes outside of the four-day school week change the Board of Education has approved.
“Of course, this year is going to be a year of change for all of us as we move to a four-day school week and our school days are a little bit longer,” said Miller. “That will make our class period times and things a little different and take some adjusting from all of us to get the best use of our instructional time and be able to best support our families through this change.”
“After we get through this year, I think we’ll feel more comfortable with it and it’ll be even more successful each year,” said Miller.
She believes having more time in the classrooms will allow for more hands-on activities. “We can do a lot of projects and activities with that little bit longer class period, which I think will be helpful,” she said.
Miller went on to say she thinks families will appreciate the consistency of the new schedule “having Mondays off so they can plan things easily, whether it’s doctor’s appointments or family vacations and have more family time potentially.”
“I think the first year will be a learning curve, as we adjust and figure out how to work it, but I think overall our families, students and teachers are going to accommodate well with it and make the most of the change,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to going on this journey with families, faculty and staff and I’m excited to see what the year holds for us.”