Trinity Names Teachers of the Year

Last school year, fifth grade teacher Carolyn Diederich started an after-school club for students interested in the number game “Math 24.”

A few of the kids liked the club so much that they decided to enter a regional interscholastic competition. Some other teachers told Diederich that the kids didn’t have much of a chance against rival students who had more experience in such contests. Diederich didn’t listen, and became more determined to see her students succeed.

The three students who planned on competing worked hard to prepare, and all three earned medals in the contest – making Trinity South the only school to achieve that honor.

When recounting the events of the tournament at a school-wide assembly, Carolyn could hardly hold back tears of pride as she told of the students’ persistence and dedication,” writes a fellow Trinity teacher in a form nominating Diederich as Trinity Elementary Teacher of the year.

Earlier this year, she won that honor, putting her alongside Kristian Damaska, who was named Middle School Teacher of the Year, and Kristen Shaw, the High School Teacher of the Year.

Diederich worked as a sub at another school district for 10 years and worked for the Carnegie Science Center for five before coming to Trinity as teacher for a hands-on science program. When that program was dissolved, she became a math teacher, helping fifth graders prep for the PSSA.

“When I was in the sciences, I liked it,” she says, “but I like the math even more. I like to see the kids learn, and I especially like the extra stuff, working with the kids who are really into it. With some, I’m doing algebra, high school stuff.”

Kristian Damaska realizes that reading isn’t especially high on the “fun things to do” lists of many modern middle school students. That makes it all the more rewarding when he’s able to help his students connect to the literature they’re reading.

In nominating their teacher, students described Damaska as someone who made class fun while still imparting lessons from what they read.

“Last year in his class, I learned so much about responsibility, reading, and having a good time,” one student wrote.

Damaska says he was inspired to become a teacher by his mother, a special education teacher who passed away when he was 16-years-old. “When I heard that I was named Teacher of the Year, I couldn’t believe it,” he says. “There are so many teachers here that I look up to, I was just very appreciative.”

High school English teacher Kristen Shaw was praised for her ability to bring literature alive in the classroom. Unique projects like the “literacy newscast,” in which students prepare news reports on the characters in, say, Julius Caesar, put the classics in a new and different light. •