Catholic Charities teacher earns Miami-Dade Head Start honor

By Marcy Knight - Florida Catholic

LEISURE CITY | For Diana Angel, teaching young children is about far more than lessons, activities and developmental milestones. It is about seeing the child in front of her, understanding what that child needs and creating an environment where every child feels safe, valued and loved.

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That philosophy has earned Angel the distinction of Miami-Dade County Head Start Infant and Toddler Teacher of the Year, an honor that recognizes educators who make a meaningful difference during the earliest and most formative years of a child's life. Angel, who has worked as an Early Head Start teacher at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami's South Dade Child Development Center for the past year, was surprised when she learned she had been selected.

“I don't believe it!” she recalled saying when she received the news.

But those who have watched her work were not surprised.

Evelyn Molina, regional director for South Dade and Good Shepherd Catholic Charities Child Development Centers, describes Angel as loving, creative and dedicated. Molina says Angel has a natural ability to connect with young children and create lessons that capture their attention.

“When I would walk into her classroom, I could see that the children felt comfortable with her and that the parents had developed a trust,” Molina said.

That trust is at the heart of Angel's teaching.

 

Discovering her calling

Angel's journey into education was not necessarily the path she originally imagined. As a young mother with a small child, Angel continued her own education while also teaching her son at home. She had already earned a pharmacy technician certification, held a technical degree in systems and completed six semesters of business administration studies. Yet something unexpected happened as she watched her son learn.

She discovered how deeply she enjoyed helping a child understand something new and watching him achieve a goal. That experience helped her recognize where her heart truly belonged.

“I started my career in education as a teacher's assistant in 2018,” Angel said.

Since then, her experience has continued to grow. She spent five years at ARC, followed by two years at Le Jardin, before joining Catholic Charities, where she has spent the past year working with infants and toddlers. Today, she is continuing her education at Miami Dade College, where she is pursuing an associate degree in early childhood education. She has also completed 15 credit hours in Florida International University's Early Childhood Bilingual Certificate Program.

Her professional credentials include a CDA Preschool Bilingual Credential, a CDA Toddler Credential and a Florida Staff Credential.

For Angel, education is not something that ends with earning a credential. She continues to learn because she believes the children in her care deserve a teacher who is prepared to understand them and meet them where they are.

Understanding the child behind the behavior

Teaching infants and toddlers requires a special kind of attentiveness. Young children often cannot explain what they are feeling, why they are upset or what they need. Their behavior becomes their language, and their teachers must learn to listen.

Angel experienced this firsthand with a child who struggled to communicate and frequently cried, bit or hit. Rather than simply seeing the behavior as a problem, Angel watched carefully and tried to understand what the child was communicating. She even prayed for the strength and wisdom to understand him.

Eventually, she discovered something surprisingly simple: the child was hungry.

Once he had eaten breakfast, his behavior changed. He became calmer and began showing affection toward Angel. She then introduced pictures and choices to help him communicate his needs. Gradually, he became less frustrated and more willing to play and participate.

The experience reinforced an important lesson for Angel: sometimes a child's behavior is a message waiting to be understood.

That kind of patience is one reason Molina believes Angel is so effective.

“She understands that every child is different,” Molina said. “She doesn't expect them all to learn, behave, or adjust the same way. She gets to know each child and works with them from where they are.”

Five little caterpillars and a lesson in joy

For Angel, some of the most meaningful lessons begin with something very simple. During her first year of teaching, a co-teacher brought five little caterpillars into the classroom. The children fed and cared for them and watched them grow and change.

The experience quickly became much more than a science lesson. Some children who had previously cried when separating from their parents began looking forward to coming to school because they wanted to see the caterpillars. Parents became interested, too, giving families another way to connect with the classroom.

For Angel, the experience reinforced an important lesson about early childhood education: learning can create joy, and joy can create connection.

The caterpillars also illustrated something central to Angel's teaching philosophy: Young children are naturally curious, and when teachers pay attention to that curiosity, an ordinary classroom experience can become an opportunity for discovery and growth.

The importance of feeling loved

Education is only one part of what Angel hopes to give her students. She wants them to know that they belong.

“She makes her children feel wanted and that the classroom belongs to them,” Molina said. “She makes them feel that they belong and that they are important to her.”

For Angel, that sense of security is essential. Before a very young child can fully engage in learning, the child needs to feel safe enough to explore.

One parent, Angie Greggs, experienced the difference firsthand through her son, Ahmad, who was in Angel's class.

“Ms. Angel has made a meaningful impact on Ahmad's educational journey in Early Head Start,” Greggs wrote. “Each day when I pick him up, he is excited to share what he has learned.”

Greggs noted that Ahmad often repeated what his teachers taught him, including lessons about kindness and potty training. He learned to recognize and recite the alphabet and numbers, understand his environment and interact well with others.

“Because of her hard work, dedication, and care for her classroom, I know he is ready for Head Start,” Greggs wrote.

For Angel, comments like these are among teaching's most meaningful rewards.

A vocation rooted in faith

Angel's Catholic faith is an important part of how she understands her work. She does not view teaching simply as employment. She sees it as a vocation — an opportunity to serve children and families through patience, compassion, love and dedication. Her faith has also taught her the importance of recognizing the dignity and worth of every person.

“My faith in God is an important part of who I am, and I try to bring that faith into the way I live and serve others,” Angel said. “I see teaching young children as a vocation, not simply as a job. It is a responsibility that requires love, patience, compassion, and dedication.”

That belief is reflected in the way she approaches her classroom. She listens, observes and encourages. She gives children opportunities to try things for themselves. When a child struggles, she looks for the reason behind the struggle rather than defining the child by it.

Planting seeds for the future

Infant and toddler teachers often work with children who are too young to remember the details of their first classroom years. They may not remember a particular lesson, activity or even their teacher's name.

But Angel hopes they remember something more important: how they felt — loved, safe, welcome, capable and encouraged.

Angel understands that she is planting seeds whose full impact may not be visible for years. Her journey from a young mother teaching her own child at home to an award-winning early childhood educator reflects her own discovery of a calling she continues to pursue.

She continues to study, grow and prepare herself to serve young children. And every morning, she returns to the classroom with the same simple purpose: to help children learn while making sure they know they are loved.

For Diana Angel, that vocation begins with something wonderfully simple — a child walking into the classroom and seeing a teacher who is happy to see them.

A smile.

And in that smile is a message every child deserves to hear: You are welcome here. You matter. I am glad you are here.