Diane Babin, teacher with the Schalmont School District, was named Home and Careers Teacher of the Year by the Unified Family and Consumer Sciences Convention in October.
Babin is a nationally board-certified teacher, who has written grants, developed curriculum and created a manual for new educators of consumer sciences.
Babin received the honor in October after she developed classes to introduce students to different occupations.
This sounds like a lifetime achievement award, but Diane has only been teaching for 13 years. I am amazed by the level of excellence around the state with teachers in our profession, and this year’s recipient is no exception, said Dodi Cechnicki, president of The New York State Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
In 2001, Babin collaborated with family and consumer science and health teachers throughout the state to develop the Parenting Scope of Instruction for the New York State Parenting requirement. The program `Yikes, Tikes! No Owner’s Manual ?? Raising Children in Today’s Society,` was revived by the New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning.
Her work has been copyrighted and used in schools throughout the country.
`I am very proud of what I have accomplished in the few years that I have been an educator and am honored to receive recognition of all of my hard work by my colleagues. I am also humbled by the fact that my peers chose me from a lengthy list of equally qualified professionals,` said Babin.
Babin is a resident of Schenectady who has taught on both the high school and middle school levels for 13 years.
Her two grants include one for a curriculum called `Catered Entrepreneurship` and a second for a manual for teachers new to teaching.
`My vision for the department at Schalmont is for it to be an exemplary department that others will work to emulate while providing the students with real-life experiences that will help them become independent adults. We continually design new activities that will meet the needs of our students while covering the material in the Home and Career Skills curriculum,` said Babin.
Babin has a master’s degree in Science in Health Education from Russell Sage, giving her a background in health and wellness education as well as career development.“
