10/28/2026
🐾❤️🖤 **MORE THAN A TEACHER. MORE THAN A VET TECH. A PASSION FOR BOTH!** 🖤❤️🐾
We're continuing our late celebration of National Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week by recognizing someone who wears more hats than we can count too — Mrs. Dana Hendrix Mills, LVMT!** 🩺🐶
If you've visited Tipton Community Animal Clinic – Brighton, you've probably seen Mrs. Mills doing a little bit of EVERYTHING!
One minute she's teaching small, large, and veterinary science in the classroom, the next she's ordering supplies, assisting a student monitoring anesthesia, helping a student perfect a new skill, answering questions from clients, or making sure the clinic is ready for its next patient.
And somehow, she's usually doing several of those things at once! 😅
But her role goes far beyond being a Licensed Veterinary Technician.
As one of Brighton High School's agriculture educators and the veterinary science educator, a FFA advisor, and the LVMT at our teaching clinic, Mrs. Mills has helped bring something pretty extraordinary to our community — a place where veterinary medicine, education, and community service come together. ❤️
Our clinic isn't just about trying to provide affordable veterinary care. It's about giving high school students opportunities that many don't experience until they're enrolled in college or entering the veterinary workforce.
From learning proper animal handling and patient care to assisting with anesthesia, surgical preparation, recovery, and client communication, students are gaining real-world experience under the guidance of veterinary professionals.
And behind those opportunities is a teacher who believes students are capable of so much more when someone gives them the chance to prove it.
For Mrs. Mills, veterinary medicine isn't just a career, and teaching isn't just a job. It's about bringing those two passions together to make a difference.
Some days that means caring for a nervous patient. Other days it means encouraging a nervous student to try something new. And sometimes, the most rewarding moments are watching both leave the clinic a little better than when they arrived. 🐾
Building a school-based veterinary clinic comes with plenty of challenges, long days, unexpected situations, and a never-ending to-do list. But it also comes with something even greater — the opportunity to help students discover their future while serving the community around them.
❤️🖤 Mrs. Mills, thank you for your dedication to veterinary medicine, your commitment to your students, and your passion for making Tipton Community Animal Clinic – Brighton more than just a veterinary clinic.
Here's to the patients we care for, the students we inspire, and the future veterinary professionals we're helping create! 🐶🐾
We have also come to the conclusion that we do not take enough pictures of our people behind the scenes...
