Mollie Miller is a 52 year old single mom of two, college student, and owns a non-profit that supports more than 200 students a year in the state of Minnesota across multiple school districts, including Roseville.
Miller has impacted many students at Roseville Area High School.
“She was always there for me as someone I could talk to if I needed a break,” said Anthony Dykes, a sophomore at Roseville Area High School. “She was like my mentor to me back in middle school, and was my number one go-to person.”
Many students who knew her shared a similar sentiment, as they’ve known her throughout the years she’s worked at Roseville Area Schools. Students describe her as “kind, helpful,” and in some cases, a “mentor” and “aunt.”
“She was kind of a mentor in 7th grade,” said Javon Minor, a senior at Roseville Area High School. “She also used to work at my elementary school.”
An average day for Miller consists of waking up early each morning, and dropping off students to five different schools, working for a few hours, then back to picking up students. On Fridays, however, she has to do schoolwork after dropping off students.
Some days include picking up students even later in the day for extracurriculars. Those extra curricular activities could last up until 10:00 pm at night.
“On Tuesdays – Thursdays, six kids in the morning, three and two after school and activities, but then two more kids after Soccer from 7:45 pm – 10:00 pm at Stillwater,” said Miller. “And then I work on the weekends, I work about 16 – 20 hours.”
According to Miller, balancing her life is her biggest struggle, given the amount of work she has per day. “It’s pretty hard to put those boundaries up because a lot of the kids reach out to me because they need the support,” said Miller. “I’ve been trying to find that balance, because I’m burning out a little, so I’m starting to shut my phone off at night, because I don’t get home until around 11:00 pm.”
While finding that balance, she’s tried to prioritize her own family; her two teenage sons. She’s tried to have dinner with them together as a family each night, but when the time comes, they tell her to help out those in need. As Miller stated, “my kids — who are very empathetic — if they find out that somebody else is in need at the moment, they’re usually like ‘Mom, go help them.’ I’m grateful for my kids.”
Miller worked at Roseville Area Schools for about six years, from 2016 – 2022. Throughout those years, she helped and supported families within and outside of the school, which has accumulated overtime.
“I’ve worked at Roseville School District for around a decade, and my two teenage boys were in that district for most of the time they were in 1st and pre-school ’til middle school,” said Miller. “All the kids are from their classes.”
Miller’s position at Roseville Area Middle School was cut in 2022 and had a dilemma placed in front of her: work, or the kids.
“They said it during a lunch period at RAMS (Roseville Area Middle School). I said publicly that ‘I choose the kids over this job any day,’” stated Miller, recollecting the events leading to her position being cut. “I used to do behavior, and a lot of the kids who were struggling were not doing great at school, didn’t have a good support system at home, or their families were struggling. That meant a lot to them, so during COVID, I made sure that they didn’t go without support.”
Not knowing what to do next to better support the students she cares for, she turned over to continue school and earn her Master’s Degree.
“I looked into available options at an Open House at Metro State University, to which I fell into what’s called the ‘MAPL Program (Masters of Advocacy And Political Leadership).” Miller figured out what she wanted to do, as she figured that if she went into Advocacy, she could set policies and do more help, even outside of the classroom. “If I make policies to make things more fair in the schools, and maybe help make the pedagogy more equitable, then that’s what I need to do.”
As Miller likes to tell the students: “Pick yourself up, get more education. Get more experience, and become that person’s boss. Teach them what’s right, or you could fire them.”
In addition to going back to college for her Masters for Advocacy, she started a non-profit in November of 2024 called “Sustainable HUMANity.”
The whole gist of the non-profit consists of the idea of helping out community members, such as implementing community gardens to grow food for those in need. As of this date, around 40 have been implemented in various places.
The non-profit also helps with finding resources for those who need it, like housing.
All the funding for her non-profit comes from her own pockets. She’s tried for grants, but as of this moment, she’s recently gotten a grant writer who’s willing to help her.
“I have a grant writer who’s going to start helping me, because these kids are worth it,” said Miller. “They’re the ones who said that I couldn’t stop helping them just because I don’t work at the school district anymore, and they keep asking how I’m going to be able to help them… which is why I went back to school to get my Masters in Advocacy.”
Even though the path she takes is full of stressful, packed days, she continues to run because of one factor: the students.
