The Educator’s Educator: Janet Rohmiller on a Life of Service and Teaching

By Eli Meschko

Media & Communications Coordinator

When Janet Rohmiller decided to dive into a career in teaching, she never imagined that it would take her down as many twists and turns as it has.

From teaching elementary special education to serving as a district administrator to instructing upcoming educators at Briar Cliff, Janet’s path has always been guided by her passion for educating future generations.

Rohmiller’s life story began on her childhood farm between Sioux City and Lawton. She graduated from Lawton-Bronson High School before heading off to the University of South Dakota.

While in her undergraduate studies, she initially wanted to have a career in elementary education, specifically with the youngest learners, and as she looked at career opportunities, she realized a second major in special education could be especially valuable.

But the benefits went beyond her career. She quickly found that she had a real passion for working with people with disabilities and ultimately pursued a master’s degree in learning disabilities with a secondary emphasis on behavior disorders.

“My specialty is in mild and moderate disability,” Rohmiller said. “I’ve worked with a lot of emotional, behavioral and learning disabilities. While I always focused on math and literacy, I ended up focusing a lot more on behavior than I thought I would.”

Part of her behavioral work came when she worked at the middle school level at Boys Town. She began there during the summers while still in her first teaching job in upper elementary special education. After a couple of years, she started full-time work at Boys Town, but an interesting development in special education got her to return to the public sector.

Special education was starting to shift toward a more inclusive model. This piqued her interest in learning about co-teaching and the shift in the field, so she made the transition back into the public school system, where she spent some time in Elkhorn, Nebraska, teaching middle school before being drawn back to Sioux City to be closer to family.

In her early years back in Siouxland, she wore many different hats. She taught middle school at the former Woodrow Wilson and elementary school at Hunt, all while continuing her work with Boys Town as a trainer, where she traveled across the country in the summers to co-lead workshops with teachers and school leaders.

"At the time, I thought it was the best of both worlds — teaching kids during the year and educators during the summer,” Rohmiller said.

After 16 years of teaching, she moved into the role of teacher on special assignment, essentially a special education instructional coach, where she coached teachers for two years across the district to improve instructional outcomes for students with disabilities.

While teaching and coaching, she pursued a second master’s degree in administration from the University of Northern Iowa. This eventually led to a move into an administrative position at the district level, where she served in various roles for 13 years.

She led professional development across the entire district while continuing her work in special education before ultimately being named the assistant director of learning supports, where she worked closely with special education coaches, teachers and principals, along with parents and paraeducators.

In this role, she developed and supervised the special education coaching model in the district.  She partnered with principals, teachers and Karen Erickson of UNC at Chapel Hill to implement reading interventions for grades three through eight. She restructured K-12 behavior programs, implemented evidence-based practices and served on state leadership teams, including the core team that initiated the SDI Framework that is now trained across the state.

Alongside her assistant director duties, Janet mentored new first- and second-year teachers in the district. She noted how she always had a passion for helping support teachers in their professional development. Though she found fulfillment in K-12, opportunities at the university level sparked her interest.

It proved to be the right move. Janet was able to return to the classroom, this time to lead the next generation of teachers.

She currently teaches courses focused on elementary and special education and supervises student teachers. Under her instruction, Briar Cliff has a new and improved special education program in place and will implement a restructured elementary literacy program this year to ensure a strong foundation to teach reading. Her dedication to improving instruction extends beyond BCU, as she is currently serving on her seventh state accreditation team.

While the transition to being a professor was smooth, the biggest shift for her was going from working with families, teachers and principals in K-12 to working with the students directly. Janet thoroughly enjoys seeing how excited her students are to not just learn, but to see how dedicated they are to the next generation.

What she loves most is seeing the development of her students. Not just from watching them progress from intro courses to student teaching but noticing how they grow personally and professionally from freshman to senior year.

“[My students] are willing to work so hard because they care about what they’re heading into,” Rohmiller said. “Even when they get tired, they still show up to learn and grow.”

A crucial part of their growth comes from the vast number of practicum hours they receive. The state mandates that education students receive a minimum of 80 hours of practicum experience before student-teaching, but elementary majors at Briar Cliff typically get well over 200 hours.

While this contributes to their success, Janet utilizes her own experience and philosophy to help nurture her students’ teaching ideologies.

For her, she truly believes in being a servant leader by providing every child with the chance to learn. She knows everyone has great potential and tries to instill this idea in her students so they, in turn, can help their own future students reach their potential.

“I want people to live a life that’s productive, meaningful, and where they can be happy,” Rohmiller said. “I don’t care if I get credit for any of it. I just hope that others feel as though they are valued and add value.”

Now, Rohmiller finds herself in a familiar but newly meaningful space — once again shaping futures, this time through the educators she helps prepare for their careers.  Watching her students move from eager first-years to confident student teachers, she sees the same passion that brought her into the profession years ago.

“My advice to others is to always be open to opportunities,” Rohmiller said. “To the teachers, always remember why you do what you do. It’s all about the students and making a difference in their lives.”