Printer Friendly Version - Anne Diamantini is Teacher of the Year

Anne Diamantini first became excited about teaching when she worked as a camp counselor as a teen. Now with 23 years of teaching in East Haven under her belt, the 3rd grade teacher’s continued enthusiasm has helped lead to her selection as East Haven teacher of the Year for 2017. Photo by Matthew DaCorte/The Courier

East Haven Academy 3rd grade teacher Anne Diamantini, recently awarded the East Haven District Teacher of the Year for 2017, feels joyful not only about the award, but that she’s had a positive effect on her students’ lives.

Her interest in teaching started when she was a teen after working as a volunteer camp counselor for children with disabilities. She says one of the most memorable experiences about that position was the joy that the children had when the counselors showed up.

“I just felt like that was what I wanted to do was to be able to see the joy on children’s faces because I was present in their life,” Anne says.

As she got older, she began reading books by Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, and saw that teaching went beyond joy.

“Teachers can actually not only bring joy into a child’s life, but we can guide them, and make such a huge impact in their future,” Anne says.

Anne has been at the Academy for 18 years, and has been teaching in East Haven for 23 years. She started in special education, and previously worked at a residential school for children with emotional and behavioral challenges.

She then worked at Green Acres School in North Haven before taking some time off to raise her children. When she came back in East Haven, she started as a part-time special education teacher, and was eventually offered the 3rd grade position, where she has been teaching ever since.

“I tease the kids, saying that 3rd graders are the best people on the planet because they’re so enthusiastic, they want to learn, they’re not afraid to challenge themselves, they want to improve their skills as learners,” Anne says, “It’s been part of my world for so long I really can’t imagine teaching a different grade level. I really feel as if I found my home in 3rd grade.”

One thing Anne establishes early on with her students is a climate and culture of respect, in which students not only appreciate each other as learners, but also teachers as mentors and guides, and tries to create a happy community in the classroom.

Once that attitude is established, she strives to create a risk-free environment in terms of learning, where children know it’s OK to make a mistake. She also asks the children to reflect on themselves as learners, so they’re evaluating their progress in their work.

“I like to offer the children authentic situations where they can apply their learning,” Anne says.

An example of one of those projects is what Anne calls “email explorers.” She says students will send emails to family and friends, and will received emails back from all over the world. She has a world map in her classroom where she and her students will pinpoint the locations from which they’ve received emails.

“The children are reaching out globally to the world around them, and people have been very generous in telling us all about where they live and sending us pictures and photographs so that the world is becoming a smaller place for my students,” Anne says.

She says that the project also allows the children to use their reading and writing skills to report on the different e-mails that they get and report that information to their friends.

Anne will be representing the East Haven Public School District at the Connecticut Teacher of the Year Program recognition ceremony that will be held this fall in Hartford. She says she felt honored, but also humbled by winning the award.

“I felt humbled because I feel that I am merely a representative of the teachers of East Haven, and I feel honored,” Anne says.

Anne says her colleagues are incredible, and work together and form a great support group for each other. She says she enjoys sharing stories about the children with her fellow teachers, and hearing their stories, as they understand what the day-to-day life is like.

She says she first felt that feeling of camaraderie at the residential school, and she still gets together with her former colleagues from that school once every month.

Anne says she not only feels joyful to have a positive effect in kids’ lives, but that feeling also inspires her to do better.

“I think all us remember our favorite teachers or the teachers who made a change in our lives, so to ask me how it makes me feel, it’s just an awesome responsibility,” Anne says, “Every day you spend with a child, that might be the day they remember for the rest of their life.”