\u201cI have no words,\u201d Miller laughed as Ward embraced him and his students applauded.<\/p>\n
Golden Apple Award nominations were open to educators from the South Carolina Upstate and western North Carolina. Miller was nominated by the grandmother of one of his students, he said.<\/p>\n
Originally featured in March as one of 30 weekly Golden Apple winners, Miller became one of five finalists selected by a panel of judges. As Teacher of the Year, Miller received a gift card from contest sponsor Ingles Markets along with the apple statuette.<\/p>\n
![\"Joshua](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/Joshua-Miler-in-the-classroom.jpg\")
Joshua Miller \u201912 in his classroom at Boiling Springs Middle School<\/p><\/div>\n
In the earlier segment that introduced Miller as a weekly winner in March, Ward praised the teacher\u2019s ability to spark a passion for orchestral music in sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Miller makes sure his musicians know their technique \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m a stickler for fundamentals,\u201d he said \u2013 but he also encourages them to envision the story, characters and emotions suggested by the melodies.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou as the musician should always be doing more than just playing the notes on the page,\u201d he said. \u201cYou should always be communicating something with your audience. I feel a certain way when I play, and so I should be making sure that the audience feels the same thing. Getting the students to think outside the technique is the most rewarding part. We get to go past the fundamentals and actually start making music.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Spartanburg, South Carolina, native, Miller graduated from Furman with a bachelor of music degree in music education \u2013 although he originally wanted to be a dentist, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then I got immersed in the music department, and I started doing some work with youth groups over the summer,\u201d he said. \u201cThe marriage of the two things was the perfect combination.\u201d<\/p>\n
It has been \u201ca rocky couple of years for most of us in public education,\u201d Miller admitted, and his Golden Apple award was well-timed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been talking with my wife and trying to figure out if teaching is where I want to be for the next 20 years of my life,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I was appreciative not just for the award itself, but also the recognition and validation that came along with it. It was just the sort of affirmation that I needed to know that this is probably where I\u2019m supposed to be, at least for now.\u201d<\/p>\n