LITTLE ROCK — Fourth-grade teacher Zsuzsanna Diamond’s hands flew up to cover her surprised face when Gov. Mike Beebe on Monday announced her as Arkansas’ 2012 Milken Educator Award winner, an honor that comes with a $25,000 prize.
The surprise quickly turned to tears as Diamond - a native of Hungary and now a teacher at Little Rock’s Otter Creek Elementary School - hugged Principal Donna Hall and then accepted a bouquet of flowers and balloons as pupils and work colleagues cheered.
“I think we surprised her,” the governor said during an assembly at the school.
“My head is spinning,” Diamond said.
The Milken Educator Award, established in 1985 by the Milken Family Foundation of Santa Monica, Calif ., is one of the most prestigious honors available to teachers, principals and other educators in the nation.
The honor is for exceptional talents and exemplary accomplishments in the profession. Until their names are announced, the award winners are unaware that they are under consideration for the honor.
Beebe described Diamond as a classroom teacher who has become the school’s virtual math coach, assisting other teachers with math instruction techniques. He also said her “real, real strong work ethic and a passion for math” paid off for her pupils, who last spring excelled on the state Benchmark Exam.
“Her colleagues say she teaches to the group but focuses on the individual needs,” Beebe said. “They can cite example after example of students who have really seen that light bulb come on” when they work with Diamond.
Diamond, 37, who is in her sixth year as a Little Rock School District teacher, came to the podium with a handmade “I CAN” sticker on her sweater. She explained it in remarks that were initially directed to her pupils.
“I haven’t told you the story about why I became a teacher,” Diamond said. “Way back when I was in first grade, I had a teacher who inspired me. I didn’t know it at that time. Some of my teachers told me I wasn’t going to make it. This first-grade teacher was there for me, all throughout my life.She actually came to my wedding. That teacher is in my heart and [because of her] I knew that I could do a good job and I can try hard.
“You also know that I have been walking around with this for the past couple weeks,” she continued, acknowledging the sticker. “Because I know that I can when I try hard and you know that you can, too. Someone believed in me and I believe in you.”
Diamond told reporters later that she sees herself as a second mother to her pupils.
“I’ll try everything to motivate my students,” she said. “It is very difficult for some of them to believe in themselves because so many times they have heard that they can’t.This [sticker] is just another reminder for them that ‘Yes, you can, if you try hard, and that is all that matters. The outcome will be later.’”
She said that as a young child, her height, her very short hair and her less-than stellar grades caused her to be viewed unfavorably by some, but not by Szegedi Teri Ne’ni, the first-grade teacher whom she hopes she will get to tell of the Milken award.
Tearing up, Diamond said she may very well use the $25,000 to go to Hungary, where she has not visited for seven years and where her family members remain.
She left that country more than a dozen years ago after meeting William Diamond, an American serviceman from Hawaii, who became her husband. They ultimately moved to Arkansas for her husband’s work, she said. The couple have three children, 13, 11 and 8 years old.
Diamond earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Mihaly Csokonsi Vitez Teacher’s Training College in Kaposvar, Hungary, and has since become certified to teach in Arkansas.
Otter Creek parents, children and co-workers praised Diamond after the assembly.
“She’s an awesome teacher,” parent Shawnetta Rucker said. “Her teaching style was a little bit different. My son would come home and he would repeat word for word the lessons she taught him throughout the course of the day. His test scores went up tremendously after being in her class. He’s in the gifted and talented program. It seems like every child that comes out of her class ends up in gifted and talented.”
Paityn White, 10, a fifth grader, called Diamond “the best teacher ever because she explained everything. She made us feel special and because of her we all made very high scores on the Benchmark test.”
Paityn’s mother, Nikie Persons, described Diamond as welcoming to parents and sweet to children, causing her pupils to enjoy school and love math.
“She gives them many options on how to solve and work through a problem,” Persons said. “She made them understand how important math is and attached some life lessons to it so they would know when they will use it after they leave the classroom.”
Second-grade teacher Jacqueline Currie said Diamond helped her grow in her math teaching skills.
“She coached me as a teacher,” Currie said. “She is an outstanding motivator. She inspires excellence in everyone she comes in contact with. She does it by asking questions and encouraging people to think through problems.”
“She helped me remember that teaching is a field I want to be in. She made a huge difference in my career.”
Hall, Otter Creek’s principal, said Diamond is an expert and passionate teacher in a school filled with passionate teachers, and that has enabled the school to meet its state achievement requirements.
“She loves kids and she knows what she is doing,” Hall said.
Each state’s education department appoints an independent blue ribbon committee to recommend candidates. There is no formal nomination or application process for the award.
Forty Milken Awards - compared to the Academy Awards for motion pictures and nicknamed “the Oscars of teaching” - will be given nationwide this year. To date, 69 Arkansas educators have received the award.
Gary Stark, president of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, represented the Milken Family Foundation at the awards assembly.
“This award means so much more than money,” Stark said. “To all educators the award says ‘you are doing important work.’ To this community, the award spotlights the great things happening all across this district. And to students the award says ‘we value educators and we hope you will consider a career in education.’”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/30/2012