Miller named CPSD Teacher of Year

Special to The Canton News

Canton Public School District recently named La’Keshia Miller their Teacher of the Year. Miller is a seventh-grade teacher at Nichols Middle School. She is a native of Canton and a 1996 graduate of Canton High School. She is the proud mother of three boys, Ken’Dre’Vius Miller, De’Corus Parker, and Ashton Rucker.  

Miller says she considers it an honor and privilege to work for Canton Public School District.  Throughout her seventeen years in the district, she has strived and continues to strive to live by the principles of motivating, relating and celebrating.  

She is a 2002 Bachelor of Social Work graduate of Jackson State University.  In 2010, she completed a Master of Arts in Teaching at Jackson State University.  After realizing her passion for the children of Canton, Miller went on to pursue a Specialist in Educational Leadership in 2017.  Her career in education is an ongoing learning process. Miller is currently attending the University of Southern Mississippi to pursue a Doctorate in Educational Leadership, which will be completed in June 2023.   

Miller is currently teaching seventh-grade oral communication at Nichols Middle School in Canton.

Miller says her role as a teacher is to motivate and activate student learning. Her goal is to help students learn what is required in a way that works best for them. If students are not learning when she is using a certain form or method, then she must evaluate her methods or/and find a better way to help them learn. Her personal experiences contribute to her philosophy today. She says her most meaningful learning occurred when she was motivated and interested. 

“It is my belief that the way to achieve this is with my own students’ voice in the learning process and assisting them in finding connections in the curriculum to their own lives and interests.  Allowing students to bring their own stories, experiences, and ideas into the classroom provides the students with opportunities to work together, learn from each other, and respect each other’s differences,” says Miller.