Wow.

Md. Teacher Marks 75 Years In Classroom

Miller, 93, Has Taught For An Estimated 27,000 School Days

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and a loaf of bread cost about 8 cents, Paul Miller began teaching.

That was 1934, and the 93-year-old Miller has been teaching math ever since.

Miller currently teaches calculus at Baltimore's Ner Israel High School and has been instructing students in private and public schools, from elementary to college, for 75 consecutive years, WBAL-TV's Deborah Weiner reported.

That covers a span of an estimated 27,000 school days.

"I think if I stop, I'd rust apart," Miller said.

He has taught for 51 years at Ner Israel and has taught thousands of Maryland students with his trademark stress-free, mellow style.

"He just keeps going and going, learning more new tricks and new things to teach his kids," said the school's principal, Jacob Schuchman.

Students at the school have fathers and grandfathers who were taught by Miller.

"Mr. Miller has remained steady through the years," said student Gavi Guttman, 16. "Not one generation, not two generations, but three."

Miller is the son of Lithuanian immigrants, Weiner reported. His mother was illiterate, and his father was an indentured servant and self-taught math expert.

When Miller first started teaching, he made copies with a jellygraph, which involved the transfer of an original to a pan of gelatin or a gelatin pad. He recalled the Reynolds ballpoint pen as an invention that helped him.

Family members said Miller has never been officially recognized for his decades of work.

"It's not going to affect our lives one way or another, but it would be really nice for his grandchildren to appreciate a grandfather who had this remarkable achievement," said his daughter, Lisa Miller.

Weiner reported that Paul Miller's children have made a case with Guinness World Records that he has the longest career as an accredited teacher.

Guinness currently recognizes a Brazilian woman who started teaching at age 12 and taught 96 years, Weiner reported.

Miller said he's OK with that.

"I'm already in a book of records," he said. "I'm in the telephone book. Who needs it?"

His son, Jeffrey Miller, said, "He feels like he is the wealthiest man in the world. He's always taught us, 'A wealthy man is happy with his lot in life.'"

Paul Miller said he believes deeply that a man who loves his job will never work a day in his life.

He has taught at Southern High School, the former City High School, Hopkins, Loyola, Essex, Catonsville Community College and others, Weiner reported.

"I'd like to go on for a long time," he said. "Who knows?

WBALTV.com