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Over her five-year stint at John H. Taggart School, 400 Porter St., counselor Diane DellaVella reveled in being a transparent builder of relationships. Since June, the 33-year-old Port Richmond inhabitant has lacked opportunities to foster fortitude among the Whitman elementary institution’s registrants, having become a School District of Philadelphia operating deficit casualty.
“When I finished school, I wanted to go to an area that would really need for me to stay there through thick and thin,” the La Salle University and University of Scranton graduate, who is pursuing professional counseling licensure at Holy Family University, said of having had Taggart as her lone site. “I looked to connect on a deeper level because, in addition to structure, the children needed a safe place to land.”
DellaVella steadfastly offered that pleasant realm by ingratiating herself with parents, whom she deemed the school community’s greatest asset, bringing creativity to her vocation through career days and a community service club, among many practices, and relating to families by learning of their cultures. Tasked with assisting educational and emotional progression, she encouraged youths by stripping them of their insularity and beseeching them to ponder their eventual roles in the world.
“I learned so much more than I gave,” DellaVella said, citing the 500-member student body’s diversity as unforgettably influential. “The community often overflowed with positivity, so it’s difficult not being around that to contribute to and feed off.”
Deeming the enrollees her babies, she always wants them to feel pacified, with her former colleagues nursing their aspirations and dilemmas since her early summer dismissal. Her old employer is searching for the means to reinstitute her position and others lost to its financial woes. Having launched a blog to chronicle her post-layoff existence, DellaVella is closely following the district’s affairs with one result in mind.
“My heart is at Taggart,” she said, “so my dream scenario is definitely a return there.”
As for her difference maker designation, DellaVella deemed it a welcome surprise yet credits others for it.
“I was there to counsel,” she said. “However, I feel the more blessed.”
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
2013 Difference Makers
/ Bruce Baldwin / Anthony Benedetto Sr. / Lou Berman / Beth Coleman /
/ Diane DellaVella / Phyllis DiLemmo /
/ Roe and Jim Gallo / Tyrique Glasgow / Ali Hackett / Deborah Holmes /
/ Kat Kendon / Harry McKay / Jaime Pannone / Juanita Perkins-Qui /
/ Gaetano Piccirilli / Megan Rosenbach / Ted Scairato Sr /
/ Rich Sisman / Dan Stevenson / Paula Terreri / Lynn Oakes West / Lawrence Whitaker / Robert Wilbowe / Ilene Wilder /
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