UNIONDALE, NY / ACCESS Newswire / November 18, 2025 / Marquis Who's Who honors Diane Schatz Butterfield, MSEd, LIT, for her commitment to literacy and dedication to helping children overcome learning challenges. With empathy, innovation and a deep-rooted love for education, she built a 25-year career that continues to impact her community, even in retirement.
A Passion for Helping Children With Dyslexia
Ms. Schatz Butterfield started her career later in life after staying home to raise her two sons and three daughters. Although entering education was a natural choice, she found her new career to be intimidating at first since it was a new experience. However, over time, she adapted to the education system and gained the confidence to take a more active role in developing the curriculum.
While teaching, Ms. Schatz Butterfield discovered that some students were unable to read due to dyslexia, and the literacy program to which they were sent didn't seem to be helping. Too many children were struggling, and she felt strongly that they needed more support than they were receiving in the classroom. She discovered the Wilson Reading System and enrolled in a summer program to obtain two certifications in Wilson methods. She then proposed a trial program to help students with dyslexia to the personnel director and superintendent.
"I wasn't fearful of offering new ideas or suggestions. I brought a program into the school district. The district was open to the idea. They were interested because I had a lot of knowledge about children with dyslexia. We went forward with it," Ms. Schatz Butterfield says.
Through this process, Ms. Schatz Butterfield realized that being willing to try new things could have a significant impact on her students' lives. The results emboldened her, and over time, she came to realize the lasting difference her advocacy had on the children she served.
"At the time, I didn't think about it, but today, I believe that I had a major impact, and I ended up helping kids, and that was the goal, the bottom line," Ms. Schatz Butterfield says.
Innovative Teaching Methods
Adding to her role as a literacy specialist, Ms. Schatz Butterfield became a teacher to ESL (English as a Second Language) students who came from all over the world. Like children with dyslexia, these learners also struggled to read. Ms. Schatz Butterfield helped develop a program specifically geared toward ESL students that improved their reading skills by focusing on phonics.
"In the last few years that I worked, we had amazing successes with that," she says.
Ms. Schatz Butterfield's strategies had a positive impact on student performance, so she shared her teaching methods with other educators.
A Positive Mindset
Ms. Schatz Butterfield focuses on the good things in life and surrounds herself with people with positive attitudes. She acknowledges that no one is perfect and makes an effort to see the good in people. She believes that maintaining this positive mindset contributed to her successful career in education.
"I am easygoing, happy-go-lucky and empathetic. I love kids. I love challenges and always address challenges, whatever they may be. I have found that having been a mother and raising five kids as a single mom was very challenging and very overwhelming at times, but being able to address things one thing at a time is how I do it," Ms. Schatz Butterfield says.
Community Involvement
In retirement, Ms. Schatz Butterfield has continued her involvement with the causes she cares about. She supports several nonprofit organizations, such as the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. She is also an active member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
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SOURCE: Marquis Who's Who
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