Teacher of the Year Finalist: Diondrea Whipple

Diondrea Whipple teaches in the Montessori Program at Lakeview Academy. She grew up in Wilkinson County and graduated from Wilkinson High School. She has been in education for 9 years. Previously, she worked as a Juvenile Probation Officer. She decided to become a teacher to positively influence youth in a proactive rather than a reactive role.

Ms. Whipple believes that building relationships with students enables them to develop motivation, self-efficacy, and resilience. She supports students based on their needs rather than simply providing the same resources to everyone. She embeds Communication, which helps develop personality traits, Collaboration to help develop teamwork and communication skills, and Social-Emotional Learning into her classroom. Her goal is to foster a stable learning environment for teaching and learning so that her students can develop critical thinking skills to help them make good decisions, learn from their mistakes, and become successful.

Diondrea Whipple holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Georgia College and State University, a Master of Public Administration from Ashford University, a Master of Elementary Education from Grand Canyon University, and an International Montessori Teaching Diploma from the North American Montessori Center. Whipple is Gifted Certified and has completed the Governor’s School Leadership Academy Program.