Staff Spotlight: Life Isn’t All Drama for Tina Miller

This post is part of the Lynden Schools Staff Spotlight series

Sure, there’s plenty of drama in Tina Miller’s life serving in Lynden Schools, but it is part of her job description. As the drama director for both Lynden High School and Lynden Middle School, Miller works with dozens of students after school, but she’s also heavily involved in the lives of students during the school day. 

The Role

As a para educator at Lynden Academy for the past six years, Miller’s role ranges from working with kindergarten students twice a week to high schoolers twice a week to a mix of elementary grades one day a week. She’s also part of the testing team. 

“I love working at Lynden Academy, the staff is like a family,” she says. “I also enjoy the variety of students I get to work with from kindergarten through high school, and all the flexibility and new challenges it provides.”

Miller’s passion, though, has always been music and drama. She selects shows, prepares scripts and schedules and runs rehearsals while working with a team of volunteers and students to produce one high school play, one high school musical and one middle school show each year. 

“I appreciate the friendships that are developed, the safe space we provide, the creative outlets and the drama family that we have created over the last 15 years,” Miller says. “Doing shows with these kids is the true joy of my life and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.” 

Getting to Know Tina

When not working on scripts and rehearsals, Miller is working on scripts and rehearsals. But in those rare moments she’s not, she enjoys crocheting, crafting, “curling up with a good book,” watching football, attending the theater, snuggling with her cats and dogs and cruising. 

Her personal passion for theater has led to community theater as well, both on and off the stage. But she’s never far from a high school sporting event or a service at Cornwall Church. 

Her husband has experienced recent health struggles, and it has limited Miller’s community activities, but she’s previously been active on the Whatcom County Umpire Association—at one time scheduling all the middle school, high school and adult softball umpiring rotations for all of Whatcom County—and serving on the board of two community theaters. 

“I am also still in touch with several of my ‘drama babies’ from the past, and even have drama grandbabies now,” she jokes. “Even though we live in Ferndale, we call ourselves Lyndenites by proxy as we feel that our lives, home and heart really are here in Lynden.”