Devoted coach and special needs advocate

For Stephanie Miller ’02, her education degree from Mount Mercy University set her up for a career in teaching and coaching that is still going strong more than 20 years later.

As Special Education Facilitator with the Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District, a position she started just over a year ago, her job is to make sure all special education teachers and staff in the school district have the support they need. A longtime special education teacher and advocate, it’s a job that is especially meaningful to her.

“I was going to Mount Mercy when my brother was diagnosed with developmental delays, and I was already on the path to becoming a teacher,” Stephanie recalled. “That’s when I decided that I wanted to help families like mine with kids that had exceptional delays.”

While attending Mount Mercy, Stephanie was also an athlete in track and volleyball, and is now in her 19th year coaching track, which has included nine years at Mount Mercy, eight years coaching middle school boys, and now two years coaching varsity girls at Vinton-Shellsburg.

For her dedication to her profession, Stephanie is the 2025 recipient of Mount Mercy’s Professional Achievement alumni award, given annually to a graduate for significant contributions or achievement in their chosen professional field.

“It’s very exciting and I’m very honored,” she said.

Stephanie arrived at Mount Mercy from Dundee, Iowa, where she attended Starmont High School. She had met Mount Mercy’s volleyball coach through club volleyball, and was encouraged to visit the campus.

“I had tours of other places, and I just felt like I belonged at Mount Mercy,” Stephanie said.

Stephanie found success as a two-sport athlete and was a national qualifier on the track her senior year in the 60-meter hurdles. She said her experiences with her teammates and her time working in the athletics department are among her fondest memories.

“I do feel like my experience at Mount Mercy with the track team has kind of directed my life,” Stephanie said.

Academically, Stephanie decided to major in elementary education, setting up a career in teaching.

“I always wanted to be a teacher, since I was very little,” she said. “I saw my teachers as people to look up to, and when I heard that Mount Mercy had an exceptional education department, I think that kind of solidified it.”

Having a brother with autism pushed her in the direction of special education, and Mount Mercy provided the opportunities for field experience and student teaching that laid the foundation for her to launch her career.

“I gained a network of other teachers and administrators that I was able to connect with after 

graduation,” she said. “I was well prepared to step into the classroom, into my first teaching role, because of my student teaching and because of my preparation in my classes.”

After graduation, Stephanie taught for two years at Tanager Place, a children’s human service agency in Cedar Rapids, before arriving at Vinton-Shellsburg as a special education teacher with a focus on elementary-aged students. Although she recently took her current role overseeing special education for the district, she still fills in on occasion and works directly with students.

“I think that the coolest part of my job is I get to watch kids grow... I also work pretty closely with parents, so I can be an advocate for our students through the years that they have here.” —Stephanie Miller ’02

“I think that the coolest part of my job is I get to watch kids grow, and then I get to go back and let their kindergarten teacher know ‘Hey, did you know so-in-so is now doing this?’ I also work pretty closely with parents, so I can be an advocate for our students through the years that they have here.”

Along the way, Stephanie has added to her academic accomplishments by earning a master’s degree in special education and teaching from Morningside College. Stephanie lives in Urbana with her husband, Adam, and their two sons, Jaxon and Grayson.

Stephanie said she feels fortunate to work for a school district that puts resources in place to help students with special needs—and said it’s rewarding to have an impactful role in helping them.

“That was my goal, to be able to continue to interact with students and parents,” she said, “and to be able to support our teachers as well.

“Special ed teachers need support,” Stephanie continued. “That’s something that I can do here for them.”