Teresita Diaz-Almayda

      Services for the deaf have been reaching distant places away from the metropolitan area and towards the rural regions like Legaspi City in Bicol. Mrs. Teresita Diaz Almayda, who has been using the art of sign language to the deaf for almost 22 years, makes sure that they receive top quality services and share equal opportunities for success with the other Filipinos.

Mrs. Teresita D. Almayda has been teaching the deaf Bicolanos since 1988, three years after she was certified by the Philippine Registry of Interpreters for Deaf Empowerment (PRID). Two years after she became a registered interpreter she was appointed as the coordinator of PRID chapter in Bicol to train the deaf and other interested future interpreters. She is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Education at the University of Nueva Caceres , one of the toughest universities in Bicol. Molded more to excellence, she pursued her Masters in Special Education (SpEd) at Miriam College and Masters in Education (Administration and Supervision) at the University of Nueva Caceres and Bicol College . Suffice it to say, she has deliberately taken the first few steps to serve the deaf through teaching, the noblest of all professions. In her consistent effort to persevere and surpass the challenges of this service oriented profession she has been awarded as the Most Outstanding Teacher of Legaspi City in 1999 and the Most Outstanding Special Education Teacher in the Regional and National Levels in 2001. She is currently a level V SpEd teacher at the Rawis SpEd Center and instructor at the Divine Word College of Education in Legaspi City . 

      Like the perfect stance that mirrors the borders of Mt. Mayon in the south, Mrs. Teresita D. Almayda's choice for excellent service to her fellow deaf Bicolanos is truly extraordinary. Behind all her impressive achievements lie a genuine value in finding fulfillment in serving others not only for the deaf but for her colleagues in the interpreting field, a trait that makes her more eminent and worthy of distinction. Her husband, Romeo Almayda, Jr. and her five children have never felt more proud! 

       “I do believe that you will find greater fulfillment in providing good service.” - Tess Almayda