History teacher Mrs. Neidlein-Dial uses her knowledge of history, rooted from her childhood, to make deep and insightful connections with our past and present.

By: Lila Edmonds-Shahani, Sarah Hassell, Lina Han, Ananya Chandra

 “I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t [interested in History],’” Mrs. Neidlein-Dial says. Ever since she was a little girl, Mrs. Neidlein-Dial has always had a great love for History.

She grew up in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with her parents and two sisters. She went to school until she was nineteen years old, and remembers school life well. Her school did not have sports teams, so she found herself with more free time. During her school years, she watched her sisters, sang in a choir, did horseback riding, and took piano lessons just like any other kid.

 After her high school years, she attended Heidelberg University, where she learned about an exchange program that would take her to Miami University in the “quaint” state of Ohio. 

Miami wanted someone with a history major, and it was perfect for Mrs. Neidlein-Dial, because of her immense love for History. Her original plan was to go for a year and return home, but they told her she could complete her Master’s, so she used her student visa to teach at a high school. 

Before she knew it, life went by fast, and she had “a car, house, husband, and a kid,” and found herself here, at Seven Hills. But long before she came here, her fascination began in her childhood.

As a kid, Mrs. Neidlein-Dial always had a love for all things History. “As a little girl, I liked castles and palaces and stories of princesses,” Mrs. Neidlein-Dial says. That was just the beginning of her affection for everything History.

She found that near her (and in Europe overall) there was an abundance of historical places like castles, so she was always around older buildings. She also said that she was always interested in people. “That’s also the history that interests me: what do people do and why do they make these decisions and so forth,” she says. “There are always common themes that connect all of us.” She wants us to use these themes to understand our part in the world.

She finds that as a society, we can learn a lot from the past and find links between events in our past that, when connected, can be “endearing.”

Madame Kalubi, a middle school French teacher and advisor, agrees with the fact that Mrs. Neidlein-Dial can make relations. “She can make connections between the past and what is happening now,” Madame says. Madame recognizes Mrs. Neidlein-Dial as a confidant that she can count on. “I always go to her, and I say, ‘As a historian, how do you feel about this?’” Madame says. She is able to count on Mrs. Neidlein-Dial because of her knowledge of what is going on in the world. Mrs. Neidlein-Dial shares immense intelligence and love of History with her students. 

Mrs. Neidlein-Dial’s favorite part of teaching is the students and her interactions with them. She enjoys “when something clicks for somebody or when someone makes a connection.” She labels these moments as “fantastic” and loves to hear challenging questions that she hadn’t thought about before. These fuel her love for her subject.

Mrs. Neidlein-Dial approaches teaching with a passion to understand her students and make them feel like they are important. She says: “I want my students to understand that I take them seriously as people.” She would like them to think for themselves and be their own person.

8th-grade student Raeva Mukherjee feels like Mrs. Neidlein-Dial did just that, helping her feel welcome in Seven Hills’ community by supporting her and teaching her new methods of studying and absorbing information. 

“I’ve learned new study methods that prove helpful in other subjects,” Raeva says, voicing her appreciation of Mrs. Neidlein-Dial’s class. “It is easy to understand the material with her learning structure, like her slides and readings,” Raeva says. She believes this proves useful on the tests, which are regarded as difficult. But Raeva believes that she does this to challenge students and make them think critically. 

Middle school French teacher Madame Kalubi also agrees with how you must use critical thinking skills on Mrs. Neidlein-Dial’s tests. She says she can hear Mrs. Neidlein-Dial teaching and can feel the passion she has for her subject. She knows high school students who still remember what they learned in 8th grade and her style of teaching. Overall, she can sense the love Mrs. Neidlein-Dial has for her subject and the support she gives to her students. 

For the last 16 years at Seven Hills, Mrs. Neidlein-Dial has been a passionate and caring teacher who shows her love and knowledge of history through her inspiring teaching. Her teaching has impacted the lives of many students and continues to inspire and motivate students today.