Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future with Ms. Sarah Miller

A headshot of Ms. Sarah Miller, one of the two theater teachers at Watauga. This photo was taken as part of the promotion for the 2024-25 Playmakers’ show “SURGE.” Photo credits: Sarah Miller

Edie Berke, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

A headshot of Ms. Sarah Miller, one of the two theater teachers at Watauga. This photo was taken as part of the promotion for the 2024-25 Playmakers’ show “SURGE.” Photo credits: Sarah Miller

Edie Berke, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

Watauga’s school culture has always owed much to the theater department. Between the annual musical and the numerous class plays, there is something theater-related happening all year long. One person who makes this possible is Ms. Sarah Miller, one of the two theater teachers. Between her thirty years of teaching in North Carolina and her twenty years at Watauga, she has become a fixture of the school and guided the theater department toward being the organized, well-oiled machine it is today. As she plans to retire at the end of this school year, she will be leaving the department better than she found it.

Miller has a long history of both directing and participating in theater. The first year her family lived in Boone sparked the start of what would become both her career and her lifelong passion.

“When I was in elementary school, my neighborhood best friend played Gretel in the Blue Ridge Community Theater spring production of ‘The Sound of Music,’” said Miller. “We were in first grade. And I was so struck by watching her perform, seeing the set design, hearing the music; the story was so engaging, and I was hooked right there.”

From then on, she never stopped acting. A medley of school productions and community theater musicals carried her all the way to high school, where, as a senior, she became one of the first-ever Playmakers. Although she loved being on the stage, her true calling was behind the curtain and behind the scenes, passing on her knowledge to the next generation.

“[Teaching] is my career,” said Miller. “This is where I found my groove and my calling, having the opportunity to help students find their calling, find their path, learn to speak for themselves, learn to communicate with others, learn to problem solve, learn to work with people they do and don't like, learn how to live in a space of grace and support for each other. That's the main thing.”

In college, Miller double majored in acting, directing, and theater arts, and K-12 education. As the child of two educators, she had always been interested in teaching, but she didn’t know where to focus until she joined theater. As an actor, she began to recognize theater’s potential for providing an education that extends beyond what happens onstage.

“Theater’s where everything meets,” said Miller. “It's where you can practice all of these 21st-century skills that are imperative for your success as a grown-up: to communicate, to work with and for, to work hard, not because it's fun, but because it's worth it and it's necessary. Don't be afraid of hard work. It allows people to learn more about themselves.”

After starting her career at Hendersonville Middle School, Miller accepted a position at Watauga. Her teaching partner, Mr. Zach Walker, arrived three years later in 2013 at Miller’s recommendation. Their friendship, which began while both were teaching in Henderson County, has had a big impact on both her personal and work life.

“He has transformed my teaching,” said Miller. “He had a National Board Certification when he came here. He was just bold about saying, ‘Hey, textbooks are cool, but theater is interactive. So let's design everything. Here's a bunch of stuff that I did when I was at East Henderson, and let's put it together with what you know. Let's find ways that it's all action, all getting up, trying, doing. Let's not read about theater.’ And that changed my teaching career.”

In her thirty years of teaching and competing in the North Carolina Theater Conference (NCTC), Miller has racked up a long list of achievements: four NCTC state championships, three teacher of the year awards, a Tony nomination, and a slew of directing awards at both the regional and state levels. As she approaches retirement, she looks back on where she started and how far she has come.

“You make a bucket list in any career you're in,” said Miller. “And my bucket list included things like, ‘I want to go to (NCTC State Competition) one time. Hey, it'd be really cool if a student of mine won a best actor award at some point. Hey, it'd be super cool if we sold out the old high school for a musical. It'd be cool if I did a show that sold out the new high school.’ Right? You dream about things, and then when you're at the end, and you go, ‘ooh, I did those.’ It's weird and wonderful. And there are things on my bucket list I never knew would be there.”

If you ask Miller about her proudest achievement, she will answer, “SURGE,” without any hesitation. The 2024-25 Playmakers’ original play, “SURGE,” which comprised the fourth of her four NCTC state championships, was directed by Miller and Walker in tandem and represented the department’s resourcefulness and resilience.

“We didn't cave to the wind, and we didn't say no,” said Miller. “Collectively, [the Playmakers] were willing, and Mr. Walker and I were able to say, ‘yes, and’ in the face of what everybody experienced and is still experiencing. We said it a thousand times. We so easily could have said, ‘We need to heal ourselves. We do not need to go to NCTC this year. We can't.’ And it would have been absolutely 100% legit. But we said we can, we will, and we are.”

As both the end of the year and the end of Miller’s time at Watauga draw near, her focus, as ever, remains on her greatest passion: the students. She sees this ending not just as a chance to reflect on the past, but to look to the future with optimism and hope. 

“I hope that in twenty years, there are still two theater teachers here, supporting and encouraging people's growth,” said Miller. “I hope that in twenty years, the value for and focus on the importance of artistic growth for students maintains an importance and a focus, because it's what makes your wheels turn. It's where everything else meets. So I hope that in twenty years, Watauga’s still doing that, and growing it. I hope they have to build onto this wing.”