Growing up, most of us had our parents and teachers tell us we can do and be whatever we want to be. For GeorgiAnn Diniaco “a school year never went by that my parents did not hear from my teachers…’GeorgiAnn is a great kid, but she just never stops talking.” Her teachers wanted GeorgiAnn to be more like her older sister Marie, who would always sit quietly, listen and do her work. Little did her teachers know that GeorgiAnn would eventually get paid for what she does best!
GeorgiAnn is responsible for the Safe and Drug Free Schools program within the department of Student Support Services with Dublin City Schools. She is also an adjunct professor with Columbus State Community College’s department of Mental Health/Addiction Studies/
Developmental Disabilities.
“I live to empower young people to make positive life choices. I intervene with students that need to get back on track and support those students who choose to remain free from alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.”
After getting her undergraduate degree from Kent State University, GeorgiAnn came to Columbus with great hopes and her first “dream job.” That job lasted a whole 5
months! “I was disappointed that my first “dream job” did not follow through with the promises presented. Money was important, but not at the risk of losing what I stood for. Looking back, this provided me with an opportunity to reflect on my personal strengths, passions, and dreams.”
That was the stepping stone for GeorgiAnn to be where she is today. GeorgiAnn says she does her best to not just make it through each day, but to live it. She does that by maintaining a sense of humor and living with gratitude. GeorgiAnn said she’d like to have coffee with are Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and Mary Tyler Moore. “I could learn so many lessons, laugh, and be inspired!”
GeorgiAnn has always been someone who was determined to make a difference in the lives of others. Her work with the drug free leadership program, Teen Institute, has provided a springboard to support youth to find ways to feed and clothe the homeless and assist in projects supporting children with special needs. Other passions include assisting in fundraising projects for cancer prevention, diabetes, the CHA Animal Shelter, and assisting with the Steubenville Greek Festival (her hometown).
A quote that GeorgiAnn lives by and best de- scribes her everyday life is an excerpt
from “Between Teacher and Child” by Dr. Haim Ginot. “I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element that determines my relationship with others. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As an educator/a person, I possess tremendous power to make a child’s (person’s) life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool or torture, or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child or a person humanized or dehumanized.”
For more information on the Safe and Drug Free Schools program, visit www.dublinschools.net/ DrugFree.aspx