Whitney Drewrey, the 2018 Mississippi Teacher of the Year, is a 1993 graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.  After working in the medical field for a few years, she decided to obtain a teaching license through an alternate route program at Mississippi Valley State University.  Drewrey’s journey as an educator began there, as one small step, and has become an adventure full of a thousand.

Drewrey launched her teaching career in 6th grade science, the role she fulfilled until 2012.  While working in the general education setting, she was given the opportunity to have students with disabilities assigned to her classroom. It was during that time that Whitney discovered her true calling.  Working with special needs children was fulfilling and gave her a drive she had not experienced before in her career. She returned to school and earned her Masters in Special Education from Arkansas State University. Drewrey says, “my love for students with special needs and earnest desire to see them learn and be included in everyday activities took over my heart.”  She now teaches special education to children in K-6th grade at Layfette Upper Elementary School in Oxford, Mississippi.

As an educator, she wishes that every student from every background would have a teacher that invests in them and gives them that push they need to become the best they can be.  She lives by a philosophy of inclusion: “Every child can learn when you give them your heart and energy.”