When it comes to caring for students, Teresa McMillen has a heart as big as her impact. This year, McMillen, a teacher aide at Alliance High School, was named the 2025 Compass Award recipient for Caring Citizenship. The award was created in 2024 to recognize a staff member who goes above and beyond in showcasing one of the district’s three core values - High Performance, Leadership and Caring Citizenship. McMillen is the second recipient of this prestigious recognition.
A part of the Aviator team since 2005, McMillen first joined the district as a playground monitor. Over the years, she has worked in nearly every building and in a variety of roles, including positions in a number of special education classrooms, as well as serving as a job coach, where she helps students gain real-world experience that prepares them for future employment and careers. Today, she continues to assist students in the MH unit while transporting others to job sites around the community.
Her passion for students is what drives her every day.
“I have quite a compassion and love for special needs kiddos, and that is what inspired me to become a teacher’s aide,” McMillen said. “I saw a need that needed to be filled.”
Beyond the classroom, McMillen is best known for her tireless efforts to meet students’ personal needs. She has created and oversees several initiatives, including Project Prom, a clothing closet, and hygiene stations throughout the high school. What started as small acts of kindness have grown into essential supports for students who might otherwise go without.
Project Prom, in particular, has a special place in McMillen’s heart. Helping a student pick out the perfect dress for a dance they might otherwise have not attended is an inspiring time for her.
“The students are so appreciative, and when I see the girls put on their dress and feel so beautiful, I just get so emotional because they have such excitement,” she shared.
McMillen has surrounded herself with a village of staff members and community donors who believe in the same initiatives and help to make them a success.
“But it’s very important for me to tell you it’s not just me—if I didn’t have the support of the community and staff donating hygiene items, coats, and prom dresses, they make the difference.”
As word has spread, donations have poured in from staff, families, and community members. The clothing closet has expanded to include “free racks” in the school lobby and cafeteria where students can discreetly take what they need.
For McMillen, being a caring citizen means more than just lending a hand, it’s about living her faith and showing students love through action. Her genuine compassion, understanding and unwavering belief in meeting the needs of all students has made her a beloved figure among students and colleagues. Whether she’s coordinating prom dresses, driving students to their jobs, or teaching them life skills in the cafeteria, her goal is always the same: to help every student feel valued and supported.
“Receiving the Compass Award has been a very big honor and very humbling to me,” McMillen said. “I just feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of this school, which values students and their needs.”
Outside of school, McMillen continues to share her belief in serving others. She teaches middle and high school students at her church, plays keyboard on the worship team, and gives piano lessons to 13 students. Married to her husband, Steve, for 37 years, she is also a proud mother and grandmother who loves to travel.
McMillen embodies what it means to be a compassionate leader who sees a need and meets with genuine kindness and heart. Her work reminds everyone that caring citizenship is more than an Aviator value, it’s a daily practice that makes a lasting difference in the lives of students.