Classmate Update: Ginny Heaton McMillian

When Ginny Heaton McMillian left John Carroll for Missouri in 1997 she never planned to live in Birmingham again. She earned a degree in science from the University of Missouri-Rolla, but decided she needed a job that made a more immediate impact so; she got a master’s in counseling from St. Louis University in 2004, and planned to become a high school counselor. Ginny said her decision to pursue counseling was because of the influence Nancy Harley had on her at JCHS.

 

Ginny got married, lived in St. Louis and had a baby. Needing to be near family, she gave in and moved back to Birmingham. Still never planning to work anywhere near family or John Carroll, she worked for four years as a school counselor. Then life shifted and she needed a job. Her twin sister Lee Ann said, “Well there’s this job opening at John Carroll, but no one would ever want to do that.” (All the while Lee Ann had been teaching there in Mr. Dunsmore’s classroom since 2001).

 

In 2009 Ginny started the new Academic Counseling program at John Carroll. She now works with students who have diagnoses that require a small amount of accommodation to be successful. In the eight years that she’s been at JCHS, she’s helped teachers, and the diocese, understand different learners, and she has helped bring accommodations and learning support to Catholic schools.

 

While working at John Carroll, Ginny met her current husband, Chris. Blending their families together, Ginny, Chris and their kids – Amelia, 12, Sienna, 10, Aria 15, Kendrick, 12, and Elijah, 9 – became another Brady Bunch. Ginny and Chris then completed their family by adding a baby of their own, Jayden, 2.