Florida teacher, husband create UF fellowship to boost technology know-how in classroom
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When Jamee Cagle Miller, of Sanford, finished her University of Florida studies in education technology and started her first teaching job in 2003, she was shocked and chagrined to find “just two very old computers” in her portable fourth-grade classroom. Only one was connected to the Internet and printer.
“I had visions of coming to a classroom filled with computers so the class could do Web quests every day, and I had all these other big, big, big ideas,” said Miller, who now teaches fourth grade at Crystal Lake Elementary School in Lake Mary, north of Orlando. “I had to step back, wheels screeching in my mind, and say, okay, I still have to make technology accessible to my students with whatever equipment is available.”
Miller, 30, credits her UF professors for preparing her and her classmates to teach in today’s budget-strapped education world. “They showed us everything we could do with the latest technology, but they also had us look at the limited computer resources we’d likely have and how we could get the most from that.”
Miller and her husband, freelance writer Gilbert Miller, have expressed their gratitude by creating a $30,000 fellowship in education technology at UF’s College of Education. Dean Catherine Emihovich announced the gift recently in a news release. Yearly interest earned on the Jamee and Gilbert Miller Fellowship will provide financial support to elementary education seniors seeking to continue studies toward a master’s degree in education technology.
Jamee earned both her bachelor’s (in 2001) and master’s (2002) degrees in elementary education from UF, concentrating on education technology in her graduate coursework. She received scholarship support that let her pursue her master’s studies and says she wants to return the favor. “Looking back I am so grateful, so it seemed a natural fit to provide that same opportunity for other people who otherwise couldn’t afford graduate school,” Miller said.
The Millers, who met seven years ago working as church camp counselors, celebrated their first wedding anniversary this summer. Gilbert said the new fellowship is a tribute to his wife’s passion for teaching, a trait that has already earned Jamee numerous accolades in her relatively young teaching career. She was named Seminole County’s Teacher of the Year in 2008, in part for creating “Crocs Caring for the Community”—an innovative project combining writing assignments with community service opportunities for Crystal Lake’s fourth-graders to become role models in their community. “Crocs” stands for Crocodiles, the school’s mascot.
Jamee Miller previously has been featured as the Orlando Sentinel’s teacher of the week and as (Oviedo) Evans Elementary School’s teacher of the month before moving to Crystal Lake Elementary in 2006. The University of Florida also recognized Miller last spring as one of its 2009 Outstanding Young Alumni.
Miller’s passion for teaching also translates into some strong opinions about the meager support she says education receives from state and federal lawmakers. She says she views her teaching and UF alumni honors “not as a crown to wear, but as a platform to stand on” in calling for increased education funding and higher teacher salaries.
“I spend more than $1,000 of my own money every year on basic classroom supplies,” Miller said. “I try to get involved politically now as an activist for education. I want to give a voice to teachers and let people outside of education know what it’s really like in the classroom.”
Gilbert Miller says Jamee’s devotion to teaching and to her students keeps her going when her job frustrations almost seem unbearable.
“It takes a small degree of patience being married to such a devoted teacher, “ Gilbert admits, “but it has taught me to have so much compassion for everything that Jamee and all teachers like her are doing to get the most out of their students.”
While the Millers are just getting started in their respective careers, they say they plan to periodically add to their philanthropic contributions to UF and the College of Education.
“Our passion for education will only become greater in the years to come,” Gilbert Miller said. “Our gift is just a small pebble in the ocean. But give our fellowship time to incubate and grow, where the students we help will then reach out as teachers and help other students and teachers, then you have a ripple effect far greater than this initial contribution.”
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Writer
Larry Lansford, COE News & Communications; 352-273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu
