ACC’s Julie Miller smiles while showing Taylor a doll during a presentation in class.
ACC Employee Reflects on Time Spent at the Center.
You don’t work at a place like the Anne Carlsen Center (ACC) for a quarter of a decade without picking up some memories and plenty of stories.
Times of laughter, the occasional tear, moments that stop you in your tracks – Julie Miller has all of those and more.
She has worked with students at the Center for 25 years. It was very nearly 35.
There were job openings at the Anne Carlsen Center in 1973, then called the Crippled Children’s School, but Miller decided to pursue other opportunities. Ten years later, she joined the Center.
Miller has worked in the residential areas and as a life skills trainer and a life skills assistant. As a resident’s primary care-giver, she provides whatever one-on-one care is provided. In the morning she may be helping a student learn in a classroom, only to shift gears after lunch and help make a field trip as fun as memorable as possible. Ask Miller what the favorite part of her job is and without hesitation, her answer is the kids and employees that share her day.
“I’ve loved it from the get-go,” said Miller, who chatted casually while drinking an ice cream float during the employee ceremony. “Prior to coming on board, I didn’t really know much about people with disabilities. In a very short time, I learned the kids that came here were and are no different from my own kids and me. They are always trying their very best in whatever they are doing.”
After 25 years, the work that is the most important is the service to the people the Center serves. That goes further than just the children, according to Miller, it extends to parents and family of the children, and all the Center’s employees.
“It takes mental work, realizing how you treat people we are serving,” she said. “How you treat coworkers goes hand-in-hand with that. We all have to get along so we meet the needs of the children. That is so important.”
Her first year with the Center saw dramatic changes as an extensive remodeling project updated the staff and student dining areas, hallways and one dorm. A year later the focus of ACC’s programs was expanded to include young people with severe multiple disabilities.
“I’ve seen all the changes in the time I’ve worked here,” said Miller, who estimated she has worked closely with about 100 kids in her time with the Anne Carlsen Center. “It’s been an easy transition with all of the changes that have occurred over the years.”
Sometimes it is hearing a certain song that suddenly transports Miller back in time and makes her think of past students. It may be just passing a certain part of the Jamestown campus that kick starts a memory. She has enough of those fond recollections, gathered over years of working in various areas and in different capacities.
“My love is working here with the kids and with the other employees,” she responded. “Everyone special to me is from here.”
The special moment of each year for Miller is graduation, when Center students say goodbye to ACC’s familiarity and go out into the world to make their own way. It is a time of transition and a time when each life is filled with hope, promise and accomplishment.
Miller also enjoys the prom, a celebration that occurs every other year for Center students. She has pitched in at the prom as a chaperone and getting students ready for their big night.
“It is pretty special and neat for the kids and for their families,” said Miller. “Especially the moms and sisters – they are so proud of the student being at the event. And all of the kids are always on their best behavior on that night.”
The past 25 years have slipped away quickly, that is certain. But the memories, little tidbits of time that spring to life, can be revisited often and keep the spirit of the Anne Carlsen Center alive and well forever.
