April Mentor of Month selected; year-end celebration planned

Ann Miller is receiving special recognition as TeamMates Mentor of the Month for April.
Miller and her mentee, Jordan, a senior at Chase County Schools, have been meeting for eight years.
When the two began meeting, the pair enjoyed doing crafts, especially around the holidays.
“We also both enjoyed playing strategic games,” Miller said.
It’s important to build a relationship with the student when they’re younger because as they get older, they don’t have as much time together, she said.
“We enjoy meeting on Wednesdays for lunch as often as possible,” she added.
When the local TeamMates Mentoring chapter started in late 2014, board member Char Wallin encouraged Miller to apply to be a mentor.
“I consider it to be a true privilege to have had the opportunity to be part of Jordan’s life,” said Miller.
“We have become close friends, and I think of her as one of my granddaughters,” she added.
Miller and her husband Merl are parents to four adult children and eight grandchildren.
She said they spend a lot of time on the road traveling to visit family as they reside in South Dakota, Colorado and central Nebraska.
Miller is semi-retired after  17 years as a professional photographer.
She does the books and payroll for Bella Salon in Imperial, and enjoys gardening, quilting and continues her photography.
She is active in the Berean Church and attends several Bible studies during the week, she said.
“I am grateful for the relationship I have with Jordan. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching her grow into such a wonderful young lady,”  Miller said.
She highly recommends becoming a mentor with TeamMates to anyone who might be thinking about it.
On Tuesday, a year-end celebration is being planned at CCS to recognize all the TeamMates mentors and say “Thank you,” said Sheila Stromberger, TeamMates spokesman.