Sterling Meetinghouse News

By Danielle Ray, Senior Reporter
Longtime Houghton Elementary School and district teacher Gail Miller said her family used to tease her that she was “born teaching.”
“As a small child, I would line up my stuffed animals and they became my first official students,” she recalled. “They were all so well behaved, and of course whenever possible, I would coerce family members to join the classroom setting.”
Miller, who Houghton Principal Tony Cipro said is “the most senior educator in the Wachusett Regional School District,” having first been hired by the district in 1974, is retiring at the end of this school year.
“I truly do know that the longer I have taught, the more I have realized how much I still have and want to learn,” Miller said.
Cipro refers to Miller as “a responsive classroom aficionado” and praises her child-centered approach to teaching. Miller has taught at multiple grade levels throughout her career, including grade four at Houghton for 20-plus years.
“[Gail] is one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated educators with whom I have worked with throughout my career,” Cipro said. “She has high expectations for all children as a community of learners and is a model for lifelong learning.”
Miller said that as a sixth grader she was offered the opportunity to help a kindergarten teacher during recess break.
“The following summer I volunteered in a nearby nursery school,” she said. “That clinched it for me. Teaching became my passion and I have never even once considered an alternative profession.”
Miller has had many different adventures along her impressive teaching journey. Her “official” teaching career began in Chicago, where she was born and raised. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Miller landed her first teaching job in a “brand new open classroom” at a team-teaching school, teaching grade one.
“What an exciting experience,” Miller said.
Five years later her husband was transferred to the east coast, where they found a home and settled in Holden.
“I got a job in a very traditional, four-room schoolhouse in Millbury,” Miller said. “Oh my, what a learning experience that turned out to be!”
After the birth of her two children, Miller was offered an ESL job in Holden tutoring a family of students that ranged in grades from kindergarten through grade 10.
“They had recently moved to town from Vietnam,” she said. “They truly enjoyed seeing me struggle to learn a few Vietnamese words and expressions as they quickly learned to speak English fluently.”
The following year as the newest faculty member of Dawson Elementary School in Holden, Miller “gladly took on the challenge of teaching any grade that was available from K through five.”
“One year I had the challenge of teaching reading to students in grades four and five in the morning and kindergarten in the afternoon,” she said. “Talk about lengthy lesson planning.”
Miller went on to teach grade two at Chaffins School for five years. When that school was torn down to build the Holden Municipal Light Department, Miller was offered a job at Houghton, where she “became part of a very special community.”
“Unlike any other school I have been a part of, Houghton prides itself on being a family,” Miller said. “Our administration reminds us at the beginning of every school year of the importance of supporting each other. And that we do. We celebrate each other’s accomplishments and provide extra support when personal issues arise.”
Miller said she has enjoyed her tenure at Houghton, including the “well-organized events” that the Specials teachers, fondly called “Special Agents,” put together throughout each school year.
“These events bring the entire community together, from our unique Peace Pole celebration in the fall to Flag Day at the end of the school year,” Miller said. “Our dedicated PTO supports our every endeavor and even plans a yearly delicious luncheon to show appreciation for our care and concern for their children.”
Although retiring from teaching full time is bittersweet for her, Miller said it is time for her “to transition onto many new adventures.”
“I’m planning on continuing with my private tutoring where I receive the rewards of working on an individual basis with children, and I’m also considering the challenge of teaching a course or two at a community college,” she said.
Miller said she is looking forward to and “delighted” to be able to travel more often, especially to visit her family on the west coast.
“I have been blessed to work in a profession I still love and will miss our Houghton school family.”