July 8, 2004

Teacher of the Month: Amy Dinger
Holy Spirit School

By Miranda Schultz
Staff Writer

Amy Dinger is a young teacher who brings bubbling enthusiasm into the classroom. She has been bringing that enthusiasm to a Almaden Valley students for the past three years as a teacher at Holy Spirit School.

Dinger previously taught fourth grade at the school, but has recently switched to middle school math.

“I love middle school because I get to see so many kids every day, and I get to teach only math, which is my favorite,” she says.

Dinger makes it her priority to make her students leave the classroom every day with a better understanding of math, a subject not always a favorite amongst youngsters.

“My goal is for them to understand the basics and move forward with it. I try to make math realistic, making it applicable to the real world. I start every unit with brainstorming and we talk about which jobs use this skill. I pride myself on making the math we do applicable to the real world. I know that every kid isn’t going to leave the classroom loving math, but my goal is to make them like it a little more,” says Dinger.

Born in San Diego, Dinger moved to the area in 1997 to attend Santa Clara University, where she is now working on her master’s degree in education. She started tutoring in high school.

“I tutored two little girls and fell in love with them. One of my teachers ran the program and she saw me with the kids and told me that I had a gift. That was when I was a sophomore, and ever since then I knew that I wanted to teach. It was a really easy decision for me and it worked out well,” says Dinger.

She loves Holy Spirit School because she feels their mission is to educate the whole child. “At Santa Clara, they focus on the whole child, and teach to educate in that way. I feel that Holy Spirit does the same thing by including a lot of social aspects with the regular curriculum. It is such a great family with genuine teachers, we have a wonderful principal and the facility is beautiful, and the kids are great,” says Dinger.

Dinger says that even though teaching can be exhausting, she feels that it’s completely worth it. “I absolutely love it. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. I could never imagine doing anything else. I love that every day is so different. The kids say some really cool things, and they make it a lot of fun. I would be so bored if I didn’t have that change,” she says. “At the end of the day, I am exhausted, but I think, ‘I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow and be better.’ I haven’t mastered the craft, every day, I get better.”

Dinger says that she would love to eventually be part of a team of teachers developing different types of math curriculum.

Amy Dinger was nominated for Teacher of the Month due to an essay written by one of her students, Allie Piunti:

Fourth grade was probably the best year of my life because of my teacher, Miss Dinger!
It was 2002, the year I first arrived at my new school. And, on October 8, at my new school where I had just started to make new friends, I skipped a grade. I was in fourth grade. It was really awkward at first. But Miss Dinger changed things. Before I moved to fourth grade, she introduced me to all of the students and had them tell me what they liked best about fourth grade.

Pretty soon, I felt like a true part of her class. For our mission reports, she had us write journal entries where we traveled back in time to a mission. I remember having a bunch of fun with that. This year, Miss Dinger is the fifth and middle school math teacher! I really lucked out. The math this year was really hard. I had breakdowns after school. But then my mom and I went in after school to talk to Miss Dinger, and we worked things out. Now, though math is not my favorite, I look forward to going to math class to be taught by Miss Dinger!

She even gives us Dinger Dollars, which is a reward system. Each time we do something good, we get a Dinger Dollar. At the end of the week, Miss Dinger lets us shop for goodies, like stickers, candy, beanie babies, etc.
Miss Dinger has changed my attitude on math completely. She is the best teacher in the whole, wide world!

Allie Piunti

Could your teacher be the next Almaden Times Teacher of the Month?
The Almaden Times Weekly is accepting essays from students honoring the special teachers in their lives. We will make every effort to acknowledge every teacher and every essay which is sent in. Send us a short (maximum 300-word essay) on your teacher and how they have affected your life. This can be a past or present teacher.

Teachers can be an elementary, middle or high school teacher who teaches at a school within the 95120 or 95118 zip codes. E-mail the essay to julie@timesmediainc.com or fax the essay to (408) 494-7078. The editorial staff will choose an essay each month. The student’s essay will appear in the paper and the student will receive a gift certificate to McDonald’s. The teacher will be featured in the paper and receive a gift certificate to Pure Bliss Day Spa and Amato’s Pizzeria. Be sure to include your name, phone number, address and school at the end of your essay.