Mikayla Montgomery: She loves her 'kiddos,' devoted to excellence

In fact, “excellence” is part of the name of her workplace – the Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence, marking its 20th anniversary this year. The 32-year-old has been there for half of the school’s existence and for her entire teaching career in the Waterloo Community Schools.

Montgomery, a graduate of East High School and Drake University in Des Moines, is Cunningham’s assistant principal. She’s also drawn additional duties this year as head volleyball coach at her alma mater, East High. She played volleyball herself at East and Drake.

In that capacity, she’s reconnecting with some of her Cunningham students.

“I love on those girls (at East) just as much as I love on our babies in the building” at Cunningham, Montgomery said. “I can relate to them, being a graduate of East High, knowing what those hallways are like, and reminding them ‘You better be in class.’” she said. “It’s not something I’m disconnected from.”

She graduated from East in 2008 and Drake in December 2011. She returned to Waterloo teach at Cunningham, obtained her master’s at the University of Northern Iowa and became Cunningham’s assistant principal beginning with the 2017-18 school year. Prior to that she was a classroom teacher and a literacy coach.

“All at Cunningham,” she said. “That’s my building. One good thing about it is, at any given time I can go into a classroom. It’s not anything unusual to see me sitting next to a kid on the carpet. Sometimes they need it. And sometimes I need that to make me still feel connected.”

With the 20th anniversary at Cunningham, faculty and staff are emphasizing the school’s namesake “excellence” with students, she said.

“We want our kiddos to have pride in everything they do. You will hear us say, ‘Are you showing pride and excellence right now?’ Because the one thing is, we want them to start internalizing that, and start knowing that they do great things.

“And it doesn’t matter what school you come from. You can be anything you want to be. As long as you’re proud of the output that you’re giving, and you are doing your best whenever you can.

“Being that I’ve taught, and now I’m an administrator, that building, those babies, mean a lot to me,” Montgomery said. “Because I want to see them do well.”

Also, she said, “I love that now that I’m up at East High and I see some of the kiddos I had in my classroom” at Cunningham. “They come up and they need a hug, and we’re touching base,” and she can say, “‘Hey, I’m still holding you to that; I’m expecting you to do big things.’” The first students she taught at Cunningham are now juniors at East.

“Those kids are our future, and we have to believe in them,” she said. “To me it’s a pleasure. It’s a blessing.”

She drives home lessons for the classroom, the field of athletic competition and life.

“Given that I did go to Drake, and I was a full-ride volleyball scholarship, I really learned the importance of a student athlete,” she said. She’s “making it real for students and my athletes now. You have to be that student first. You have to perform in the classroom first to be that athlete you really want to be.

“And you have to have a backup,” she said – a plan in life beyond or after athletics. “What you think you’re going to do as a star athlete may not work out. And it’s okay. That’s something I learned big when I was in college,” when a nagging injury limited her career.

“What’s going to be my backup plan? At that time, I knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Montgomery recalled. “I wanted to be able to impact kids and I wanted to be able to make a difference. I knew I wanted to be an elementary teacher. They love you every day when they’re little. And getting into coaching was, ‘I want to share what I’ve learned in this game that I love with others.’”

At East and in club volleyball, she said, “I had some amazing coaches who just believed in me and would push me in all aspects,” resulting in the scholarship opportunity at Drake.

Drake was far enough away for her to spread her wings, “and yet close enough to home,” she said. “Because my family is my everything. I couldn’t have done as many of the things I have done and still am doing without them. They are there for me 100% of the way,” along with former coaches and individuals within the school district.

“There’s a lot of people who have played a part in the story of my life.”

Montgomery married her high school sweetheart, Tiris, who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Marshalltown. They have two daughters ages 6 and 2.

“I see myself becoming a volleyball mom!” she said with a laugh. She’s also involved with 319 United, a local volleyball club for 150-200 teens in the Cedar Valley.

Several Cunningham and Waterloo Schools faculty and staff nominated Montgomery for the 20 Under 40 recognition.

“Mikayla is such an inspiration to everyone who knows her! Waterloo Schools is so blessed to have such a selfless, dedicated leader,” Dawn Podhajsky said.

“Mikayla sets a shining example for her students, team, and own children of a Black woman achieving at high levels, through her administration role with Waterloo Schools and new head coaching position at East High,” said Abby Bries. She added that “her determination to be the best she can be day after day is inspiring to all who know her.”