Westmont’s Leann Philgren worked in corporate America. Then she found her calling as special ed teacher, coach

Leann Philgren was working in corporate America, a business degree in hand, but held a lingering feeling as she considered her volunteer work with the Special Olympics.

“I loved that part of my day more than business,” Philgren said.

A competitive swimmer while growing up in Chicago, Philgren did several triathlons and connected to the Special Olympics through her work as a lifeguard with the Chicago Park District.

She had found her calling.

Philgren went back for her master’s degree at 28 years old as she chartered a different career path. It’s a journey that took her to the western suburb of Westmont.

Philgren has been at Westmont High School as a special education teacher since 2000 and is the school’s Secondary Transitional Experience Program (STEP) coordinator in addition to being Westmont’s cross country coach and girls track and field coach.

“Looking back, if I didn’t do Special Olympics, I would not have realized that this is an opportunity,” Philgren said.

Philgren began her career in Westmont at the junior high school. After three years, she came to the high school to start a vocational program.

“In special education, I was drawn to vocational and transition and building skills for independence,” Philgren said. “We try to get those life skills.”

Philgren said they teach instructional math and instructional language arts to the students in the program. There are five students but the program has had as many as eight at a time.

They also have a workplace experience class, which includes a coffee club with about 40 deliveries to different teachers and a mail room that delivers mail. The program also works with food and custodial services and has one student working off-campus.

STEP is a work experience program that helps students with disabilities prepare to transition to employment and community participation during and after high school.

“It’s a STEP program, basically a partnership of [Department of Human Services] to support our students post-high school,” Philgren said. “What happens with most students is that they go on to transition placements.

“It’s post-high school support with work, independent living, employment and education.”

Students in the special education instructional program have a regular school day with 50-minute classes. They go to P.E. and all their electives. And there is the workplace class. If they are ready, students can be pushed out into the community.

In addition to that work, Philgren serves as the Westmont High School Buddies Sponsor.

A peer relationship group, the club matches one or two general education students with a student with special needs. The club has sponsored field trips such as a mall outing to shop with their buddies and activities such as a Halloween-themed event.

“The business world taught me the ins and outs of corporate America. But this is the most incredibly rewarding position I’ve ever had,” Philgren said. “These kids bring me more enjoyment. They come to school happy, they come to school ready to learn, they want to be a part of the classroom. It is such a positive environment, such a great group.”

On the coaching front, Philgren started as a junior high cross country coach, a job she still holds. She did track and field for seven years as a junior high coach, started coaching high school and when Steve Wolf retired in 2020, Philgren took over as Westmont’s girls track and field coach.

She appreciates most the growth she sees in athletes from the beginning of a season to the end.

“They’re starting with benchmarks, where they start is the baseline,” she said. “Last year, we had a boy who had never jumped before, Abe Johnson, his first year as a track athlete and on the jumps crew. The first day of jumping, he broke the school record. Seeing the kids, how much they support each other, it’s incredible. We have some special-needs students. It’s a nice mix. They get along.”

It’s a full day going from her work during school hours to coaching, but Philgren loves it.

“It is a flip, but it is still managing kids and working with different levels of kids,” she said. “We have a pretty competitive track team, very competitive.

“I enjoy this. I have a personal connection with the athletic side of my brain and am extremely competitive. I still take a class on my own, go to a boot camp that I love. I try to push them, to bring that knowledge, how much they can get from being part of a team.”