Meet Gulf County's New Teachers

Wewahitchka Middle School welcomed two new teachers into its fold this year, area newcomer Lisa Evans and first-year teacher, Sherron Miller.

Lisa Evans

A transplant from Lebanon, Tenn., Evans taught for eight years before assuming her new role as Wewahitchka Middle School’s sixth grade math and language arts teacher.

Evans earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education with an emphasis in math at Cumberland University.

She moved to Gulf County three years ago, and previously served as the school district’s Instructional Technologist.

She also taught computers at the Adult School, a grant funded position that she enjoyed.

“It’s very rewarding teaching any adults that come back to school. That was awesome—not that I’m not loving being here,” said Evans.

Having previously taught seventh and eighth grade math and first and second grades, Evans described teaching sixth graders as a surprisingly different experience.

“I feel like I need to be more nurturing. They’re not as worldly,” she said.

Teaching the same math textbook as she had earlier in Tennessee has helped ease the transition, and Evans has a few tried-and-true tricks up her sleeves.

To encourage her language arts students to read, Evans recently posted a new bulletin board that declares, “Gators not only love to bite, they also love to read and write.”

For every book the students read, they add a link to a growing alligator body that Evans hopes will soon wrap from one end of the room to the other.

She is also incorporating her computer background into her daily lessons, teaching her students to construct bar and line graphs using Excel software.

Evans appreciates the outpouring of support she has received from Superintendent Tim Wilder, middle school principal Pam Lister and other district staff.

“You get support like you can’t imagine,” she said.

Evans was especially moved by congratulatory words from her former school district colleague, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Sara Joe Wooten.

“I told her that I was going to the middle school and she said, ‘Well, congratulations to us,’ and that just touched my heart. That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me.”

Sherron Miller

Miller described her summer vacation this way: “I took six classes, ‘cleped’ two and passed three teacher’s exams. But other than that, I didn’t do anything.”

Putting herself on the teaching fast track enabled Miller to fill the reading/language arts opening at Wewahitchka Middle School, where she’d spent the last five years as a teacher’s aide.

As an aide, Miller earned the title of Gulf County’s “Non-instructional employee of the year” two years ago.

Her experience in a supporting role stoked Miller’s desire to become a teacher.

She enrolled in Florida State University and earned a social science degree and language arts certification after taking a number of classes online.

The work was difficult, but Miller made it through with the help of her family. “My husband and son have been very supportive,” she said.

Though she had spent years in the classroom, the first day of school proved overwhelming.

“You think you’re prepared and you’re not,” said Miller, who credits middle school teacher Mary Lou Whitfield with restoring her confidence.

“She was just really a mentor for me. She told me, ‘Take a deep breath. You’re ready for this,’” she said.

Though she acknowledges having opening day jitters, Miller said her work as an aide helped prepare her for her new career.

“I’m very thankful that I had an opportunity to be an aide,” said Miller, noting that she was able to observe a variety of teaching styles and classroom practices.

“I feel like I’ve had five years of on-the-job training, and I’m very thankful for that.”

Miller teaches reading and language arts to all eighth grade classes and one seventh grade class.

Miller teaches approximately 100 students, and she seems to genuinely adore each one, calling them, “the best group of kids.”

Miller hopes her mid-life career change will inspire her son, Matthew, a Gulf Coast Community College freshman, to stay in school.

“It has taught him a valuable lesson—‘I need to go ahead and get my college degree,’” said Miller. “I think he understands that.”