LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Beth Ann Miner was nominated by her district's special education director, Jessica Towarak.

Ms. Miner is a special educator in the small village of St. Michael, AK, home to 450 people. She is a passionate educator and advocate for students who experience disabilities. She is constantly considering students' greatest needs and how she will help them grow to their fullest potential in the future. Ms. Miner is a positive member of the Special Education staff in the Bering Strait School District.

Ms. Miner works tirelessly and creatively to provide the best services for students in rural Alaska. One of her biggest passions is art integration. Yearly, she utilizes her leadership potential to present at the statewide Special Education conference to bring new ideas to Special Educators on how to utilize her artistic abilities to connect to instruction and provision of related services. She was selected as one of only 52 participants in the 2018 National Gallery of Art Teacher Institute on Storytelling and the Visual Arts held in Washington, D.C., in July of 2018. This six-day seminar brought together K-12 teachers from across the country to explore the connection of storytelling to learning, and the ways teachers can use art objects with storytelling activities in the classroom.

"Beth Ann Miner is a dedicated and competent special education professional, with the highest moral and ethical standards," said Towarak. "She is always seeking to improve programs and build capacity among her staff in St. Michael. She truly is impacting and affecting lives for the better!"