For Donna Marlow, the seeds of a teaching career were planted in sixth grade. Growing up in a difficult home environment, she found herself volunteering in a special education classroom at her school. It was a place where, for the first time, she wasn’t the one being helped—she was the one helping others. “Looking back, I wonder if the teachers knew what was happening and put me there to build my confidence,” she recalls. “From that day on, I decided I would be a teacher”.

That early sense of purpose carried her to Western Illinois University, where she studied special education while working full-time at Bethphage (now Mosaic), a home for adults with disabilities. The experience gave her a rare advantage: the ability to test theory against practice immediately. “It was stressful doing both at once, but it worked,” she says. “You learned quickly which things in the textbook actually worked in real life”.

Decades later, Donna’s classroom at Macomb Schools is a reflection of her philosophy. She teaches a mixed group of 10–13 students, ranging from kindergarteners to second graders, supported by a team that includes longtime aide Teresa Heikes and colleagues like Barb Kokol. Students spend half their day in general education classes—art, music, and PE—while general education peers also come into Donna’s room to work and play alongside her students. The model minimizes transitions for students with autism and builds bridges between all learners.

Her faith and her own childhood challenges, she says, have given her a different kind of empathy. “God let those things happen so I would have an understanding I could never have had otherwise,” she explains. “I hope someday my students can say proudly that they have a disability and be like, so what? Everybody has something”.

But Donna’s story doesn’t end at the school door. Alongside her husband, she is the force behind Rows and Rose, a flower farm and subscription business in Roseville that specializes in arrangements, weddings, and monthly deliveries. The farm, now in its second year, grows everything from David Austin roses to dahlias, peonies, and lisianthus. With the help of a high tunnel grant, Donna can stretch her growing season, harvesting tulips in early spring and roses well into the fall.

The venture is more than a business—it’s a vision for transition. Donna dreams of employing former students with disabilities at Rose and Rose, offering them not just jobs but dignity and stability. “Even my lowest kids can weed and clean buckets,” she says. “They can learn a lot of things. And it’s good for me, too, because when I train someone, they’ll stay for years, not just a summer”.

Already, one former student has come to the farm with his mother to volunteer, with the plan to eventually join as an employee. Donna sees it as a win-win: reliable help for her business, meaningful work for students who often struggle to find employment, and a stronger local economy. “You’re giving them an opportunity they might not otherwise have,” she says. “And you’re giving them income and dignity”.

Her superintendent and district leaders share the vision, exploring ways to connect high school transition programs with Donna’s farm. She hopes Rows and Rose will become part of a continuum of support, moving students beyond classroom-based projects into real-world work that matters.

For Donna, both teaching and farming are missions—expressions of persistence, faith, and hope. “A lot of TLC and enough time, and you can grow anything,” she says with a smile, glancing toward rows of roses in bloom.

And just as she nurtures her flowers, she continues to nurture her students—proving that with patience, care, and the right environment, both children and roses can flourish.