Whitney Mohr

Whitney Mohr of Machesney Park has been teaching for 30 years, the past six at Rockford’s Rolling Green Elementary. She is working on her doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on special education. She leads a self-contained class for students in grades 3-5 with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Whitney’s principal says she “creates an environment where every student feels valued, supported and capable of achieving their best … in her classroom, every child knows they are important, respected and part of a team. Her students are not only learning essential academic and life skills; they are also building the self-esteem and confidence they need to succeed in the world.” Whitney says her mission is clear: “to meet their needs head-on and provide them with the exceptional support and guidance they deserve.” Her curriculum covers reading, writing and math, as well as functional life skills like brushing teeth, cleaning up and cooking. She also has students focused on basic life function activities like breathing and swallowing. To effectively challenge, monitor and manage the learning of such diverse students, she has paraprofessionals on her team who actively engage with students. Whitney is constantly collaborating with therapists, administrators, paraprofessionals and other teachers, evaluating students to make sure they have proper placement, getting some moved up to general education classes or therapeutic day placements as appropriate, and learning about treatments, therapies and programs available to her students. Whitney helps her students understand that every person is different. She encourages them to consider how they may contribute to how others react or behave, why someone may behave in a certain way, as well as what they admire about others’ differences. Her class motto is, “We all help each other to know the most we can learn.” A school speech-language pathologist who works closely with Whitney added that she “makes teaching look easy, and we all know that it is anything but.”