Danielle Vanek: Golden Apple finalist
Danielle teaches fifth grade English and literature at Willowbrook School, South Beloit, Illinois.
Five of the 20 teachers who are finalists in the 2025 Golden Apple Award for Academic Excellence teach at schools in far northern Winnebago County.
Danielle is a fifth grade English, Literature and Arts (ELA) teacher at Willowbrook
Middle School in South Beloit, Illinois. Willowbrook is in the Prairie Hill School
District.
Danielle also teaches intervention classes for children with social and emotional
issues.
Before coming to Willowbrook five years ago, she taught at Rock Cut Elementary
School in the Harlem School District.
Danielle loves teaching fifth grade level students. “To me, it’s a calling.”
She grew up in Machesney Park and attended Harlem High School. She earned
an elementary education degree from Judson University in Elgin, Illinois.
“My classroom at Willowbrook feels like home to me.”
Danielle and her husband, Patrick, are parents of two children, Charlotte and
Oliver. The family lives in Machesney Park.
