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Monday, November 3, 2003

Once-bullied boy now aids youths

By AUDREY PARENTE
NEWS-JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

ORMOND BEACH — He was bruised and bleeding after being bullied on his way home from school in the eighth grade, and he was sick of it.

Jeff Miller didn't say anything about his problem to his two older brothers, but he vowed to somehow learn to fight back.

He signed up for martial arts classes.

"It changed my life," Miller said.

Now, at 32, the New Jersey native is one of Holly Hill's finest — a part-time detective in the police department's criminal investigation division.

He also teaches youth to defend themselves with what he learned at 13, when he was growing up in a single-parent home in Holly Hill. He said he gained power, self-esteem and strength of will from a patient master, skilled in the Korean art of tae kwon do.

"It makes you be kind and gives you empathy. It teaches you how to respect nature and animals and not (to) litter," he said. "The biggest thing is probably strength of heart and dedication."

Miller said tae kwon do helped him make it through Holly Hill Elementary School and Mainland High, and he borrowed $3,500 to go through the police academy in St. Johns County. At 21, he became a Holly Hill police officer and then was recruited by the Sheriff's Office to work at a boot camp for juvenile offenders.

"I was called a drill instructor. I made sure they got up, made their bed, showed them how to shave, brush their teeth correctly," Miller said. "They came in, and they didn't look good or feel good about themselves. We changed them to become healthier, with confidence and self-esteem."

The work was fulfilling, but the boot camp lost its funding in the mid-1990s. Miller returned to the Holly Hill Police Department as an undercover officer and began attending Daytona Beach Community College at night.

Yet he wanted to do something more — to continue to help youngsters stay out of trouble. So he participated in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and the Police Explorers. Then he helped set up a Police Athletic League chapter at the Holly Hill recreation center.

"I was appointed executive director (of the entire PAL program for Holly Hill). You get kids from all economic backgrounds, and a lot of them were from challenged homes," Miller said. "We converted all the recreation leagues to PAL — baseball and basketball and the tae kwon do. My main goal was to get cops and kids together to build a bond, so a kid could go to a cop to tell him anything and speak from the heart."

Cmdr. Mark Barker said Miller exemplifies what it means to give back to the community.

"I can remember interacting with Jeff (Miller) when he was a young man, growing up in Holly Hill, when I was a young police officer working the street," Barker said. "I had the opportunity to watch him develop as an officer and a vital part of the community. He has devoted himself to youth programs."

In 1999, Miller earned his bachelor's degree in business management at Warner Southern College, Lake Wales. He continued with the PAL program until early this year when he opened a martial arts school in Ormond Beach.

While the PAL program continues without him, Miller didn't leave his former PAL tae kwon do pupils in the lurch. He took all 56 of them to his new school.

"I wanted to change people's lives, and I wasn't doing enough at PAL, so I brought all the students here, where we are open more hours, with an after-school program," he said. "We sit down and help out with their reading and math, and I can give them better workout conditions."

Recently at the school, one of his former PAL pupils, Matthew Huckaby, 10, said he has known "Master Miller" for nearly three years.

"He taught me very good discipline and, instead of getting into fights like I used to, I learned how to get along with people," Matthew said. "And people were picking on me about my reading, because I'm not as quick. But since we have started this, we read — like every day at a certain time — like homework. If I have trouble, he helps me figure it out."

Matthew's mom, Heather, a single parent, credited Miller with helping her son improve.

"Jeff (Miller) is very big on discipline and manners, and it has helped so much," she said. "It's something to keep my son out of trouble, focused, and it's good exercise every day ... instead of outside riding around, getting into trouble."

Did You Know?

When Japan occupied Korea in 1909, the practice of all Asian martial arts by Koreans was banned. It is believed that the ban inspired Koreans later on to establish their own martial arts form, tae kwon do.

* Tae kwon do — “the way of kicking and striking” — is a Korean martial art form that began in the mid-20th century.

* It is practiced by more than 20 million pupils in more than 140 countries.

* The International Olympic Committee named tae kwon do a demonstration sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Compiled by News Researcher Karen Duffy. SOURCE: Encyclopedia of World Sport.

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