She grew up six blocks east of where the West begins, in what some might jokingly call the “middle of nowhere,” a place where people, like her, decide to become teachers because that’s what their daddy did, and that’s what grandma did.

Today Kirstin Cronn-Mills, the South Central College instructor who has taught a class on Harry Potter, has a nice piece of hardware to complement that storybook beginning. She was recently named the instructor of the year for two-year colleges in Minnesota.

But when you ask her about it, this is what she’ll say: “All the teachers here are good. I was just the one who had a student nominate me.”

Cronn-Mills grew up in Cozad, Neb. The 100th longitudinal meridian runs down the main drag of Cozad. She calls it “six blocks east of where the West begins.” She attended a country school of about 40 students.

Her grandmother started teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in 1928. Her father was also a teacher. And from an early age, she remembers wanting to be a teacher, too.

After high school she went to college. Where?

“The University of Nebraska-Lincoln,” she said. “It never occurred to me to apply anywhere else.”

And her major? “I like to read books,” she said to herself. “Guess I’ll be an English major.”

Right about here is where she decided to be a high school teacher. And then she met her husband, Dan, who was pursuing a Ph.D. He encouraged her to teach at the college level. But for that, she’d need an advanced degree.

So while Dan worked on the final year of his Ph.D., Kirstin quickly completed a master’s program with a focus in creative writing.

The couple moved to Mankato when Dan was hired by Minnesota State University. Kirstin also worked there, as an adjunct faculty member in the English department.

Kirstin began working on her Ph.D. and finished it in 1997. A year later, their son, Shae, was born. A year after that, she began applying for jobs, and found one at St. Mary’s University in Winona. But when Dan couldn’t find a job in Winona as well, she turned the job down.

But as she prepared to go to Winona, she got a chance to teach an English course at South Central College. And she hasn’t left since.

“As it turned out,” she said, “it is the perfect place for me.”

Lillian Lamoreux, the student who nominated Cronn-Mills for the award, said, “Kirstin has been a huge influence on my life professionally, personally and educationally. She has helped me see what kind of professor I’d like to be one day, and what kind of person I strive to be now ... When I first came to SCC, I was a very closed-minded person. I can honestly say that my personality then is probably almost unrecognizable from what it is now. Kirstin was a large and good part of that process.”