Two 2009 graduates of Marietta high school, Tanica Anderson and Kamiah Anderson are headed back to campus, this time to teach and coach in the system where they attended school.
“Marietta is home to me,” said Kamiah. “I graduated from here and it’s where my roots are. I’m looking forward to being back.”
Both were standout student athletes during their school careers, winning the 3A Track State Championship their senior year, playing in the basketball state tournament two times, and racking up scores of individual awards also. They were also serious about the “student” part of being student athletes.
Kamiah, daughter of Timothy and Monica Milo, earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from ECU, and has since earned a M.Ed. in Sports Administration and will graduate with another master’s degree in December, this one in General and Teaching Instruction.
She began her teaching career in the Ardmore Public Schools, where she coached and taught for three years. At Marietta, Kamiah will be teaching science in the middle school as well as coaching the sixth and seventh grade girls’ basketball team and assisting with the high school cross country and track teams.
Regarding the new school year, Kamiah said she’s ready to get going.
“Being allowed to return to Marietta to teach and coach where I graduated has always been my ideal,” she said. “Walking back in the buildings, it feels like home to me. I’m getting to know the kids and I really believe this is going to be a fantastic experience.”
Tanica will be the head cross country and track coach, the high school girls’ basketball assistant coach, and the elementary P.E. teacher.
After graduating from Marietta like her parents Bobby and Lisa Anderson and brothers Brylun and Branson “Booba”, Tanica attended college at Midland Junior College and James Madison University before earning her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Texas Women’s University.
Although she originally worked in a cardiac rehab unit in Medical City in Denton, Texas, a call from Madill Public Schools about an open coaching position resulted in what Tanica called “a leap of faith.” She spent two years at Madill, where she was head coach for junior high girls’ basketball and assistant for the high school girls’ team along with acting as the assistant cross country coach at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
“I loved it at Madill and will always appreciate them for giving me that opportunity to learn and grow,” Tanica said. “I wasn’t looking to move when I was contacted about the job at Marietta. But the more I thought about it, the more I believed that God wanted me to take another leap of faith and come home to Marietta.”
To say that her parents are thrilled might be a bit of an understatement.