When Deborah Diss walks away from Ben Davis this June, she’ll deserve a rest.

Diss teaches work-based learning, education professional development, and graphic design layout. When she retires at the end of this school year it will end a remarkable 29-year journey.

Consider this:

1990 – Graduated from UIndy in the business Education program. Stay-at-home Mom.

Jan 1995 – Started as a long-term sub at Broad Ripple High School.

August 1996-1999 – Taught keyboarding and accounting at Arlington High School

August 1999 – moved to Bryan, TX, and started teaching Computer Science and AP Computer Science at Bryan High School.

June 2003 – Finished master’s degree in Ed Leadership from TAMU and moved to FL.

January 2004 – Became business department chair at Chamberlain HS in Florida.

2006 – Became District Resource Teacher for Hillsborough County schools.

2007 – Marketing person for CTE for Hillsborough County schools.

April 2008 – More grandkids and one in NICU in Indiana. By May, returned home to Indiana and was hired at the Ninth Grade Center.

2012 – Moved to BDHS as Business Teacher for Administrative Office Management (previously called BTL),  Desktop Publishing, and  Interactive Media. Coach for BPA. 

2016 – Helped start West Side Jr Chamber of Commerce with Scott Borah (Area31).

2017 – Became teacher/coordinator for WBL(COOP) / Ed Professions.

2018 – Was on the CTA Teacher contract negotiating team.

2020  – Started developing online marketing courses and in 2021 started teaching those online marketing courses. 

2021 – Started coordinating with Employ Indy and the CCR office to help recruit students to work off-campus with major companies in Indianapolis through the Career Exploration course. 

June 2023 – Retiring.

Diss is way more than a teacher though. She’s a wife, a mother, and a church-going lady, and was and will always be a big part of Ben Davis. 

“All along, my husband and I have been active members of our churches and our church choirs, and we have always loved spending time with our family,” Diss said. “We have been blessed with my teaching career, wonderful church families, three sons and their wives, and 13 grandchildren.”

Diss has done just about everything. She has been a photographer, a planner, a mentor, a coach, a friend, and a professional.

“My husband, Brian, has been my cheerleader, encourager, and 100% supporter throughout all of this,” Diss said as she prepares for her final months of full-time work.

In retirement, Diss hopes to keep herself busy with her grandchildren and will stay involved in some of the business programs she helped start at Ben Davis. But most of all, she will enjoy time with her family.

“I have focused on teaching and my students for almost three decades during the school year,” she said. “Many times my family has had to take a back seat during the school day. Now, it is time to focus all day, year-round, on my family and church family…and continue to travel.”