Everyone has a pet peeve. One of the teachers at Jacksonville High School’s pet peeve is having to take the car off of cruise control while driving. Which teacher you might ask? The one and only Mrs. Bohlen of the science department.
Laura Bohlen grew up in Brockway, Pennsylvania, 691.2 miles away from Jacksonville. However, she moved to Illinois, Brighton to be specific, when she began junior high. Bohlen graduated from Southwestern High School in Piasa. She was the valedictorian of the 2008 class.
From high school, she attended the University of Illinois Springfield. She decided on UIS because she was offered a multitude of scholarships and would therefore not have to worry about money because college would be paid for. Bohlen ended up thoroughly enjoying UIS because of the small class sizes. She also states that she liked it because of “a very helpful faculty that really helped me achieve my goals.”
Majoring in Biology, Bohlen also achieved minors in Chemistry and Secondary Education. She always wanted to go into teaching. Bohlen states, “When I was little, my mom would get concerned because I would run downstairs after school and set up all of my dolls and reteach everything I learned that day.” Biology has always interested her because “life is so complex and so interesting!”
Bohlen likes teaching high school students because of the atmosphere that they provide. Her students keep her job interesting, and she loves hearing their stories and, well, teaching them Biology. She enjoys working at JHS because it is “not too big, yet not too small.” She has no plans to leave JHS because she simply feels at home here.
Bohlen’s personal goal as a Biology teacher is to “continue to grow professionally.” She is always looking for better ways to teach the material. For her students, she wishes to shape “productive citizens, even if their goal in life is not to immerse themselves in the wondrous field of Biology.” She hopes that down the road, she will be able to see how students have matured and be proud of their progress.
Outside of school, Bohlen loves to watch movies, shop and be with her family. In fact, Bohlen and her husband Ryan are expecting their first child. She will be having a boy and his name will be Christian. Since Bohlen will be going on maternity leave starting the week of Spring Break, make sure to stop by at the beginning of next year to congratulate her on her new baby boy!