Andrew Miller will be joining the administrative team for the upcoming school year as an administrative intern. The position will focus on supporting the school community with administrative duties that impact students. This includes attendance, discipline and overall goals of the school.
Miller said that his main goal is to learn about how to be in an administrative position while performing hands-on experiences. He said he will perform any duties asked of him from other administrators.
As for his reaction to learning he will be interning at Northwest, Miller said he was excited to return to the Blue Valley School District after attending Blue Valley West High School.
“I think that it is definitely an awesome feeling anytime you get a job that you’re really wanting for that next step in your career,” Miller said. “I’m a Blue Valley kid and I was extremely impressed with Mrs. Vomhof in my interview. It was just an exciting moment for my family and I.”
Leah Vomhof, who will be moving to principal in the fall, said she was happily awaiting Miller’s arrival and expressed her enthusiasm about him planning to work directly with students every day. Vomhof said her first impression of Miller was that he is all in on Northwest and that he is very positive with a ton of energy.
Additionally, she said having an administrative team of five will allow for more interactions with students.
“His position will allow us to balance all of our assistant principals and the principal to be able to be in classrooms more, to be out in the hallways more [and] to be out during lunch with students,” Vomhof said.
Miller said he is looking forward to taking the next step in his career by learning more about administration through his role at Northwest and connecting with the students and staff.
“I look forward to getting to know everybody. The main thing is focusing on forming relationships with everybody, that’s my primary goal and making it so the community as a whole knows that I care about them,” Miller said.
Miller will be leaving Olathe West High School where he served as the Green Tech Academy facilitator for the last three years. His role included teaching and supervising students in the program.
Senior Alex Stone is a student at Olathe West and is a part of Miller’s current Green Tech Academy class. Stone said that Miller was his favorite teacher he has ever had at school because of his personable attitude and willingness to let students be creative.
“People are very comfortable around him and he’s very comfortable around other people,” Stone said. “I think being in an administrative role is a perfect role for him because of that.”
Stone said that Miller communicated clearly with his students by saying that his end goal was to be an administrator.. It did not come as a surprise that he would be leaving Olathe West, but it did come as a disappointment according to Stone.
“Our Green Tech group chat was like, losing their minds when they found out who the new person was,” Stone said. “And I was just trying to say like, ‘Hey, guys, there’s not gonna be another Mr. Miller. Like, just gotta power through it. You guys are going to be fine.”
Additionally, Stone said he would like Northwest students to know they are in good hands with Miller.
“Blue Valley is very lucky to have him and I know that he will do great things there,” Stone said.
After not having someone assigned as an administrative intern for the last couple of years, Vomhof said she is excited to welcome Miller to Northwest. She hopes he will gain practical experience from learning alongside veteran administrators to take forward in his career. Vomhof also said she has an admiration for the intern position as it will help with the ongoing teacher shortage by taking direct action to train someone on the much-needed position.
“Your students, your staff, your community needs experienced leaders, both teacher leaders and assistant principals or principals,” Vomhof said. “So the administrative intern position gives us that pipeline to help them grow and learn and have those experiences in an environment where they are learning.”
Miller said he wanted the students and staff to know he is anxiously awaiting his time at Northwest and cannot wait to join the Husky community.
“I am excited to work with the Husky community, the staff, the students, [and] the administration,” Miller said. “The reputation that you guys have speaks for itself and I’m excited to be able to be a part of it.”
