Miami University

2/18/07

Eileen Diamond, an English/language arts teacher at Cincinnati’s Covedale School and interim director of Miami University’s Teens for Literacy Program, has been named recipient of the Cincinnatus/Woodward Trust Distinguished Teacher Award for 2006-07.

Teens for Literacy was started in 1989 to encourage inner-city students to improve literacy in their schools and neighborhoods.  It serves about 80 students in five local schools, including Cincinnati’s Covedale, Gamble, Westwood, Midway and Dater Montessori schools and Hamilton’s Garfield Middle School, Teams of students at each school design and participate in activities such as tutoring and reading contests.

When the creator of the program, Allen Berger, Heckert Professor of Teaching and Writing in Miami’s School of Education and Allied Professions, retired last year, Diamond agreed to take on the program despite a schedule that includes full time teaching responsibilities and taking graduate-level coursework. 

Seeing the impact of Teens for Literacy on her own students provided the motivation to accept the position. “When the kids are empowered to help others the process can transform students into readers and leaders,” she says.

She’s also seen student participants, most of whom could not previously picture themselves “living at college,” begin to think about post-secondary options as a result of their visits to Miami. 

Carine Feyten, dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions, cannot imagine a better person to take over the program on an interim basis.  “She’s an award winning teacher with 18 years of experience in an urban school district, plus she’s seen first-hand how Teens for Literacy transforms students,” said Feyten.

The Teens for Literacy students, most of whom are in the fifth to eighth grades, will be visiting Miami April 4 for a day of classes and programs to be followed by a banquet on April 27th.