student of the month story

who- Nat Miller
what- got student of the month
where- at our school
when -last week
why -for saving his friend
how- by taming a lion

This month's student of the month is… drum roll please… Nat Miller!

Last week Miller showed great courage by saving his 3 year old friend from a lion.

"I ran into the ring and I saw little Timmy running around while they were letting out of his cage. All I could think was that cute little Timmy was in danger. I jumped in front of the lion like I do in the shows and screamed in its face," Miller explained.

Timmy Tedder is the son of trapeze director of the circus, Frank Tedder, who was watching the whole episode from the trapeze ladder. 
"I am so grateful to Nat for his quick thinking. I can't thank him enough," Tedder said.

The school's award council decided to award this amazing act of courage with the student of the month medal.
"This isn't something that happens everyday. Its quite incredible," said Lilly Bud, president of the student council.

Timmy has been with the circus for all 3 years of his life and has been fascinated with the show animals. 
When asked about the events of the day Timmy giggled, “Li-li is a big kitten. He is very funny.”

Miller, like Timmy, has been with the circus all his life and has been acting in it since he was 7. 
“My favorite part of the circus is the animals, I’ve always felt connected to them. I usually work with our elephant, Susan, or the camels but lately I’ve been working with the cats. My first show where I worked with Li, the lion, was last summer.”

Miller explained that it’s a challenging to work with the carnivores. “If you wish to be a successful lion tamer you have to act dominate over the lion so that they respect you. Lions have a weird mindset. If they’re not hungry then they're very chill and lazy. But they still like to be the boss and so it’s tough and takes time to get a lion to respect you. Its scary at first especially for a kid like me who weighs a third of their weight. ”

Miller’s parents own the circus, which is one of the only certified animal friendly circuses. 
Miller’s father, Ron Miller, explains. “ We make it our priority to do what’s best for the animals and the safety of our actors. We want our audience to be enjoying the show, our actors to have fun, and our animals to be happy while we’re performing. When that all happens the show is a good one. We strive to have an it happen every performance. It helps to have a good kid like Nat who keeps even our youngest members safe.”