Janis E. Mills
Jan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned degrees at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She moved to the Washington, DC area, where she taught special education and mathematics for fifteen years before becoming a High School Principal and Director of School Improvement. She earned her Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership for a Changing Population at Notre Dame University of Maryland and taught Educational Leadership. Jan mentors new administrators and enjoys reading, writing, cooking, fitness, and volunteering while traveling between her homes in Annapolis, MD, and Rehoboth Beach, DE. Her most important roles are wife, sister, aunt, and friend.
Favorite Book:
Educated by Tara Westover
Then becoming a teacher and high school principal, I also lived a secret nocturnal life−my triple life. Bartending in shady parts of D.C., I was hit by a rock, saw a gun pulled on my friend, and witnessed fights, arrests, and marches that pitted straights against gays. I jumped from girlfriend to girlfriend, courted a few straight girls, and dabbled in activities far different from the straight educator I portrayed by day. On the day of my father's funeral, my mother proclaimed her recognition of my gayness. What I hoped would be a celebration of love and openness was anticlimactic. I had wasted too many years. My father was gone, and I had lost friends rather than share my truth. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning LGBTQ movement, I became a courageous trailblazer and did my own coming out in a big way, I married a woman. Now I share my truth with the world and enjoy the happiness that honesty has given me.
Do not make the mistakes I made. Openly love who you love.