From GED to Doctorate

By Ben Benton, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.

Oct. 23–DUNLAP, Tenn. — Ginger Mills’ path to her doctorate in educational leadership didn’t grow from her career, but her decisions as a teen to let nothing stand in the way of her dreams, she said.

“I’m not a quitter,” Mrs. Mills said. “When I decide to do something, I want to do it and I want to do it well.”

But at 16, the Sequatchie County native thought her dream of becoming a scholar might be out of reach after she gave birth to a daughter.

“Yes, it was a mistake — not that my daughter was a mistake — but the timing,” she said. “I thought that probably I would not be a teacher and wouldn’t be able to go to college.”

At her parents’ urging, she pursued her education. She got her GED and her husband, Chris, managed his work schedule so she could go to college part-time.

Mr. Mills joined his wife’s pursuits and now teaches history at Sequatchie High, she said.

The couple funded their education through “grants, working and sacrificing,” she said. Mrs. Mills got her bachelor’s degree, then worked on her master’s while teaching in Bledsoe County schools.

She worked toward her doctorate during her eight years in the Sequatchie County school system, calling the degree her crowning academic achievement.

But she’s not finished, she said.

“I could still get additional doctorates and I can become a Nationally Certified Teacher,” she said. “I’m not done.”

Susan Greer, Mrs. Mills’ GED teacher, said her former pupil is a role model.

“Ginger came as a very quiet, shy, pregnant 17-year-old that needed to get on with her education,” Mrs. Greer said.

Mrs. Mills sent Christmas cards with updates on how she was doing in school, Mrs. Greer said.

“Along with that card, there would be a picture and another child,” she said with a laugh. “Finally, one day came an invitation to her college graduation.”

Though many teens entering the GED program have gone on to succeed, “I have never had anyone to receive their doctorate from a GED at 17,” she said.

“She just has what it takes down deep,” Mrs. Greer said.

Natalie Boston was one of Mrs. Mills’ high school teachers and now teaches alongside her former pupil. She said teachers know that pregnancy reduces a child’s chance of success.

“But it’s not the end of the world,” Ms. Boston said. “Her own children are shining examples of who she is. Exceptional people run in her family.”

E-mail Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com

Name: Ginger Mills

Occupation: Computer lab teacher at Griffith Elementary School

Education: B.A. and M.A. from Tennessee Technological University; Ed.D in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University

Personal: Husband, Chris, and children, Samantha, 16, Samuel, 14, and Sarah, 11

Something people don’t know about me: “I love ‘Little House on the Prairie’ but cry during every episode (and) I love to play Guitar Hero and the Sims (video games).”

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