Scott Miller is hoping his success in smaller, more rural areas continues this year as he has taken the superintendent’s position at Clinton Prairie High School.
After graduating from Owen Valley High School down by Spencer, Miller had his first teaching job at South Putnam almost 25 years ago. He followed that with a stint at South Vermillion where was the assistant principal and athletic director while getting his administrative degree at Ball State before going to North Putnam where he has been the principal there at North Putnam High School.
“In smaller schools and rural schools, in my opinion, you can keep that really family atmosphere together,” said Miller. “I’m not saying that large schools aren’t capable of that. I just think you lose some of that along the way. When you’re from a rural community it’s very important that you depend on each other to get things done.”
Miller will have an interesting challenge ahead of him at Prairie, a school which went through three superintendents last year alone. But, here again, the attractiveness of the smaller, rural area attracted him to the school.
“It’s so similar in many ways to where I have always worked and where I’ve been always been successful,” said Miller.
Something else that appealed to Miller is the fact that the staff cares about the kids and how much they care about each other.
What kind of goals does Miller have this year for the Gophers?
“I want us to have a more normal year,” he said. “Being someone who is new to the area, I have a lot to learn myself. My personal goals is to spend a lot of time listening to what everyone has to say.”