CEDAR HILL, Texas — A North Texas teacher is using the experience she's gained throughout her career not only to help her students but to hold onto a second job with a second name that some might need a second to believe.
In the classroom
Miko Mathews comes from a small town in East Texas called Jefferson. She's currently a journalism teacher at Cedar Hill High School. She teaches two classes of yearbook, four classes of photojournalism and one class of journalism.
"With a class like this, you need hands-on because even though it's yearbook and it's journalism," Mathews said. "Ultimately, they're going to go out into the world. And they need to be able to navigate the world on their own terms, but even beyond that, they need to have some information behind them."
Mathews' Advanced Journalism II class was recently working on angles in photography and what you should be looking for. Junior Kosisochukwu Achebe was one of the students who went out with a group and was tasked to go out of the classroom and take 11 photos with 11 different angles.
"Wide, low, tight, extreme tight," Kosisochukwu explained. "I really didn't know that there were really different angles."
Junior David Saldana is in the same class as Kosisochukwu. He said he enjoys Mathews' teaching style.
"She's very clear and very calm, most of the time," David said. "She's easy to work with."
Behind the mic
Before there was ever the teacher Miko Mathews, there was the morning show host Gina Rodgers... who was previously the young woman Miko Mathews.
Let me explain.
Mathews went to college at the University of North Texas in Denton as a music major with a mom who was a teacher and did radio on the side.
When she was in her early 20s, Mathews started to regularly stop by her mom's second job out of curiosity.
"I came and hung out," Mathews said. "And somebody didn't show up for work. And they put me on."
While music was her passion, Mathews knew she was meant to have a microphone in front of her... just not in the way she initially imagined.
"I wanted to be a singer," Mathews said. "I realized singing would be hard when I got to Dallas. So I said, 'You know what, if I can't be on the records, I'll play 'em.'"
So, Mathews got her start in radio unexpectedly with her mom right nearby. From that point, her radio career took off.
Mathews went on to live in New York for seven years, Los Angeles for six years, back to New York again for second more years and has now been back in Dallas for three years.
She is currently the host of the gospel show Kirk Franklin's Praise on SiriusXM every morning, highlighting some of the gospel artists from around the nation. She goes by the name Gina Rodgers on air.
"I know I can do this because I can talk," Mathews said with a smile. "Yes, I can. I can't do anything else, but I can talk."
From meeting famous celebrities to channeling her love for music, Mathews' career has been a long and successful one.
"Listen, my whole career is nothing but God," Mathews said.
Combining two passions
Mathews' most recent move to Dallas happened so she could be closer to family in the Dallas area. That's why she wanted to work for SiriusXM as the Kirk Franklin's Praise host -- because she can record all her segments on her own time from her home.
But now back in her home state, Mathews tapped back into her past and got an itch to follow even more in her mom's footsteps.
"My mom's a survivor," Mathews said. "All day long."
Mathews became a substitute teacher in Dallas soon after getting back to Texas. It didn't take long for her to realize she not only has a passion for music but also to share that passion with others.
"These kids grow on you like fungus," Mathews said. "I love them dearly. I don't want to admit that to them because, you know, once they know you love them, then they try to get at you."
Mathews applied to be a teacher at Cedar Hill High School and got the job.
This is where she finds herself now: Ms. Miko Mathews in the classroom and Gina Rodgers on the radio.
Mathews said she will regularly get up at 5 a.m., tape some of her radio segments until about 6 a.m., get to school by 7:25 a.m., leave work around 4 p.m. and then record more of her segments when she gets home in the evening.
While this sounds like a lot is on Mathews' plate, she said she is enjoying every second of this new double-duty part of her life.
"I enjoy life," Mathews said. "I enjoy what I do. I get a chance to play, and then I get to go and teach and play with kids. The kids are really sweet. They want to be there. They want to learn. And that makes it easier for me."
If you want to hear Gina Rodgers (Miko Mathews) on the radio, you can hear her host Kirk Franklin's Praise every Thursday-Tuesday at 5 a.m.
"My mind can't even fathom the things that I've gotten the chance to do," Mathews said. "And I know that if it were not for Him, that wouldn't be my story."