For Valley High School Advanced Placement English teacher Rachael Link, students like Emmi Diehm give her hope for the future.
“She’s the definition of the passion that we all have in this profession,” Link said. “As a member of the human race, knowing that Emmi is quickly exiting her junior year, stepping into her senior year, preparing to enter in society, that gives my heart great calm. She’s a hard worker, she is compassionate, she is diligent.”
Diehm, a Valley junior and student-athlete, keeps busy outside of the classroom — she’s on the bowling, tennis, cheer and track teams as well as being secretary of student council, vice president of business club DECA and a member of the mock trial team, the student newspaper and yearbook staffs, and the student-athlete council.
Her packed calendar and leadership roles in student-led organizations are rewarding because she gets to help people, she said.
Of her extracurriculars, bowling is her favorite.
“It’s fun, and it allows me to spend time with friends and compete against my friends who go to other schools,” Diehm said.
In March, Diehm and her brother Baxter, a senior, went to the bowling state competition in Lancaster to compete in the singles tournament.
She said getting to compete with her brother makes athletics more fun.
“I’ll never have a practice where I don’t know someone,” Diehm said.
Joe Skura, athletic director at the New Kensington-Arnold School District, said Diehm is a dedicated and goal-driven student-athlete.
“She does the right thing without expecting pomp and circumstance,” Skura said. “Her attitude and demeanor are pleasant, but she’s not a pushover. She is respectful, kind and thoughtful in all she does.”
Diehm is looking to broaden her horizons after high school and is considering moving south for college, though she hasn’t chosen a school yet.
Right now, she’s weighing two career paths: finance or dietetics.
“If I did finance, I want to get on a pre-law track and then go into law school and do financial law,” Diehm said. “If I do dietetics, I would like to be a diabetic nutritionist.”
Her interest in dietetics was sparked by her own experiences as a Type I diabetic.
“I had really good nutritionists at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, and that’s kind of what inspired me,” she said.
Valley cheer coach Bambi Simmons has watched Diehm grow up over the past decade from a shy young girl into someone who, she said, is a role model for younger athletes.
“I take groups of high school kids to the elementary schools every year, and Emmi is always one of the first to sign up and she volunteers (and) does all the extra activities with the younger kids,” Simmons said. “She’s always positive.”
She’s also a quiet leader in the classroom, often uplifting and celebrating her peers’ success and showing up 100% every day for her academics, Link said.
“Her ability to adapt, to persevere through difficult curriculum and to be unwavering in regards to her conduct and her ethics and her authenticity in her work — to me that’s the whole premise of public education,” Link said.
Simmons said Diehm’s wisdom, perspective and can-do attitude go beyond her school-related activities.
“(High school) is one part of your life and just keep reaching for your future goals — that’s what Emmi is,” Simmons said. “She just takes everything in with strides.
“She doesn’t get stressed out. I mean, obviously she might get stressed out a little bit, but she just takes it in stride. She just goes, ‘OK, what’s next?’ ”