High school English teacher Diandra D’Amico has earned a 2023-2024 Big Apple Award from the New York City Department of Education. Photo credit: Diandra D’Amico

New York City is very proud of their public school teachers. In fact, city leaders regularly recognize exceptional educators with their annual Big Apple Award. For the 2023-2024 school year, one of the educators honored was Diandra D’Amico, an English Language Arts teacher from Pelham, New York.

For the past two years, Diandra has taught English/Language Arts at Harvey Milk High School in Manhattan. Previously she taught for the New York City Department of Education and worked as a private tutor.

Diandra takes her role as a teacher and role model very seriously. “My time as an educator has led me to dig deeper into understanding how the brain, mind, heart and body integrate to create meaning in our lives and, by extension, how we contribute to the world around us,” Diandra declares. “My greatest hope is to instill in my students a love and passion for learning. I maintain a youthful and naive belief that we are all capable of changing the world by starting with one life,” she says.

Diandra earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Haverford College in 2003. She earned her Masters degree in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2006.

This year, the Big Apple Award was presented to 49 superlative New York City teachers. Each one was nominated by their principal for work in the profession that inspires students, models great teaching, and enriches school communities. The recipients were chosen through a rigorous selection process that includes community nominations, principal recommendations, classroom visits, an interview, and a review by a board of judges. To learn more about the program and this year’s recipients, click on this link to Big Apple Awards.