Meet Whitney!

Whitney (she/her) has an M.Ed in Special Education and a B.A. in Elementary Urban Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago with specifications in English Language Arts and Social Science. She also holds International Baccalaureate certifications in Individuals and Societies and Language and Literature. She is a Golden Apple Scholar and has taught both English Language Arts and Social Science in Chicago Public Schools for the past 7 years. In addition to being an educator, Whitney is a Chicago Organizer that works to empower and serve marginalized communities. She is committed to guiding her work in favor of the larger vision of social justice and educational empowerment for all students and communities. In her free time, Whitney enjoys reading and watching Stand-Up Comedy.

Whitney’s WHY is that she believes that young folks have the right to have access to an equitable education in which they learn to navigate the systems around them. 

After work we can find Whitney reading, watching sitcoms and Stand-Ups. 

One of her goals this year is to make grade level social science accessible and help teachers to use accommodations and modifications for students who struggle in reading and writing.

What is Whitney excited to read this summer? 

Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction by Gholdy Muhammad 

Unearthing Joy by Gholdy Muhammad provides a framework for creating culturally and historically responsive curricula that reflect students' diverse backgrounds and experiences. The book offers practical strategies for educators to design engaging, inclusive lessons that promote critical thinking and social justiceI am hoping that the historical context provided in the book will help me explore what traditional critical and culturally responsive curricula looked like for black students in our segregated past and how to incorporate those aspects into curricula today.