Cindy Mock, Educational Consultant/ Itinerant (SASE), Office of Early Childhood and Student Services, was named Employee of the Month for June 2024. Mrs. Mock has served at the BCIU for almost 20 years.
Cindy served as a teacher of the visually impaired for Early Intervention and School Age Special Education before moving into her current role. Brian Hocking, Program Administrator, Office of Early Childhood and Student Services, shared, “Cindy has embraced her role as an educational itinerant since starting in this position in 2022. Cindy is self-motivated, proactive, and eager to finish tasks by the established deadlines. She exhibits tremendous enthusiasm and tenacity when assisting others by adhering to tight timelines and supports them with each step in meeting their goals and objectives.”
Mrs. Mock grew up in Huff’s Church and now resides in Mt. Penn. Cindy earned a Bachelor of Arts and teaching certificates from Kutztown University, where she dual-majored in Elementary Education and Education for the Visually Impaired. She earned her Master of Arts in Special Education with certification from Penn State. Additionally, she attended Wilkes University, pursuing courses in creative writing. She continues to write middle grade fiction in her spare time and is currently querying publishers.
Cindy lives with her husband, Sid, and a very old cat named Izzy.
Cindy shares that the best part of her job is her students. Recently, she attended a graduation for a student she has had on her caseload since kindergarten. She has been working with students with vision impairment and blindness for three decades. Last year, she accepted a new position that does not allow her to interact with students directly, which she misses, but allows her to work with the School Age Itinerant staff under Brian Hocking. She is heartened by how these professionals have welcomed her into their work lives. Their trust and acceptance of her new role is energizing. She is fueled by the quality of teaching and dedication the itinerant staff demonstrates every day.
In her spare time, Cindy enjoys traveling, history, biking, hiking, outdoor music, gardening, reading, and writing.
You might not know that Cindy is a certified Penn State Master Gardener. She volunteers with the Treatment Court at the Opportunity House Garden at 2nd and Pear Streets in Reading.
She also once walked through a nesting site of Eastern Timber rattlesnakes without getting bit. Her grandfather was known as the “snake man,” and she attends the Noxen Rattlesnake Roundup held annually on Father’s Day weekend, where she and several of her cousins continue their grandfather’s tradition.