Tiger Teacher Receives 2019 SDEA Teacher of Excellence Award

Pierre – The South Dakota Education Association (SDEA) has named Harrisburg South Middle School Math Teacher, Carla Diede, the 2019 SDEA Teacher of Excellence. Diede will also be nominated for the NEA Foundation’s Awards for Teaching Excellence.  Educators selected for this award have demonstrated outstanding professional practice, association advocacy, community engagement and leadership in professional development. 

“Carla is a true leader and innovator in the teaching profession.  She embraced Harrisburg’s personalized learning program because she wants to meet her students where they are. Carla supports her fellow teachers as they set self-paced schedules for their students and helps her students support one another through collaborate work groups,” said SDEA President Mary McCorkle.  “Carla is caring, creative, dedicated, and a true advocate for her students and the profession she loves.”

Diede earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with an Education Specialization from South Dakota State University in 2007, and her Master of Science in Education from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2011. Diede obtained National Board Certification in 2017.

The NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence recognize, reward, and promote excellence in teaching and advocacy for the association. The awards are jointly presented by the NEA Foundation and the NEA.  Along with a $1,000 grant from SDEA, Diede will receive a trip to the NEA Foundation’s 2020 Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in Washington DC.  Five awardees are selected for The Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence and receive $10,000. The NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence recipient, selected from the five, receives $25,000 in cash.

SDEA is South Dakota’s largest education professionals’ organization, representing more than 6,000 elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers