Solving Her Final Lesson: Diggs Leaves Her Buffalo Mark Behind

By ALAYAH DUENES 
The Tower 

MANTECA – Some teachers are remembered for what they teach. Others are remembered for how they make students feel.  

For 35 years, Deanna Diggs managed to do both building a legacy at Manteca High School that will stay long after her final lesson is taught. 

Diggs didn’t just choose teaching; she was inspired by it. As a student at Manteca High School, she once sat in Algebra 1 in Room 71, learning from teachers who believed in her before she believed in herself.  

Years later, life brought her back to that exact same room, this time as the teacher standing at the front.  

"I had several inspiring teachers while going through school myself, particularly my math teachers here at Manteca High School,” Diggs said softly.  

What once shaped her became what she would later give back to others. 

After 35 years of education and 18 years at Manteca High, Diggs has made the difficult decision to retire from a choice that came from the most meaningful place in her life. 

“When I became a grandmother for the first time last September, I knew my priorities were going to change,” said Diggs, who plans to split her time in Southern California, where she’ll babysit her granddaughter.  

Even with that clarity, leaving is not easy.  

“It is bittersweet. I still love doing what I do and teaching,” said Diggs. 

There is a pause in that truth the kind that only comes when something you love is becoming a memory instead of a daily life. 

For Diggs, teaching was never just about math. It was about watching students grow into themselves. During her time at Manteca High, she taught Sports Analytics, Algebra, Geometry and served as a department chair.  

“One of the most rewarding parts of my career is having a student as a freshman and watching them grow into a young adult as a senior,” she said. 

To her, those transformations were everything quiet proof that time, patience, and belief can change a life. 

Some of her most unforgettable memories came from moments that went beyond lesson plans including teaching her own children during her years in junior high math.  

Those experiences blurred the line between teacher, parent, and mentor in a way that made her career deeply personal. 

Over the years, Diggs has seen education shifts and change.  

“Education is like a pendulum,” she explained. “Swinging far left and then making its way back to the far right.” 

But through every change, one thing never moved: Her dedication to students. Outside of teaching math, Diggs has been a tireless supporter of Manteca High athletics, especially the football program. She often feeds the varsity football team sandwiches on Fridays before their game. 

“She has a love and passion for students at Manteca High and its community,” said longtime colleague Neil MacDannald, also a former football coach.  

In a school full of teachers, Diggs became someone students leaning on not just for guidance, but for the heart. 

As retirement approaches, Diggs knows what she will miss most is not just the classroom, but the people inside it.  

“I am going to miss my colleagues and make a difference in students’ lives,” said Diggs, who thanked longtime colleague Steve Grant for his support and counsel.  

That sentence carries a weight that cannot be measured against the understanding that every year, every student, every conversation mattered more than she may have ever realized in the moment. 

Now, she steps into a new chapter one filled with travel, family, and the joy of watching her grandchildren grow. But even as she leaves, her presence will not truly disappear. 

Because long after the final bell rings, her impact will still echo in the students who felt seen, the ones who were encouraged when they didn’t think they could do it, and the countless lives quietly shaped by a teacher who cared enough to stay 35 years.