Loading

PD Profiles: Cheryl Miller By Matt Spence

Providence Day prides itself on its talented teachers and coaches, but behind these people is a core of dedicated staff members who keep the school running and who make sure the school community has everything it needs. It's not an overstatement to say that, without these talented people, schools like PD couldn't function. One of these professionals who works behind the scenes is Cheryl Miller, who will retire in June after being at PD for 37 years.

Miller came to Providence Day in 1984 while the late Doug Eveleth, the second of PD's six chief executives, was the head of school. The campus consisted of Williams Hall, Providence Hall, Overcash Hall, and Ridenhour Gymnasium. At that time, there were about 100 faculty. "It was a small intimate school where everybody knew everybody."

Cheryl Miller's 1986 yearbook picture. Photo courtesy of the Charger Archives.

Miller said that parents have always been involved at PD, but during her first few years at the school, they did things like run the school store, prepare and serve lunch, staff the library, and assist in the classroom. The constant presence of the parents made the school feel like a big family, Miller said.

In 1984, the business office had only three people in it, including Miller. At that time, all of the school's accounting was recorded by hand in big ledgers. Because there were only two others working with her, Miller had several roles: accounts payable, payroll, and Human Resources.

Cheryl Miller in costume before performing in a Faculty Follies skit, which she says is one of her favorite memories from her Providence Day career. Photo courtesy of Cheryl Miller.

Miller says that even though she was not formally trained in accounting, it has "always just clicked with me." She says that she has always liked to learn, and this is one of things that has kept the job interesting through the years. She especially enjoys learning about the laws related to taxes and tax shelters.

Miller has always committed herself doing the best job she can for Providence Day. "This is a school of excellence, so we're going to be a business office of excellence. And, we are."

Cheryl Miller laughs as she recalls a memory.

Miller brought her enthusiasm for her profession to the wider world as well by becoming a member of the local and national Payroll Associations. She has served as the membership director, vice president, and president of the Charlotte chapter of the Payroll Association, and she works for the national association to help new charters get up and running. She also helped to create and grow the annual, week-long conference for payroll professionals in North and South Carolina called the Carolina Payroll Conference. Miller has been on the planning committee for this event for 15 years and has been responsible for bringing in speakers from the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, Social Security Agency, and the Federal Reserve. She has been the treasurer for this event for the past five years, and she considers her role in the conference to be one of the highlights of her career.

Although she loves her job, she admits that is it stressful at times. After all, in her 37 years at PD, she has handled all but one payroll! So, after many years of commitment to both her job at PD and to the health of the profession locally and nationally, Miller has decided that she's ready to have less stress in her life. She will spend the first year of retirement helping the person taking her position get settled into the job, and then she plans to move with her husband to Camden, South Carolina, to be closer to her sister. There, she looks forward to pursuing her hobbies of watercolor painting, reading, and doing puzzles.