Diana Rose, a beloved teacher who spent decades developing the drama, debate and forensics programs at Brighton High School has died. Friends reported the news on social media.
She taught at Brighton High School for more than three decades, with a career that began in the mid-1960s. Through the years, she touched thousands upon thousands of lives, and many of her former students were remembering her today on Facebook.
Writing in the “You know you are from Brighton, MI if …” Facebook group, Kathy Leuker Pearson wrote, “One of the most influential teachers in my high school years. She encouraged me to participate in extra-curricular activities I would never have considered on my own: plays, forensics, speech competitions, a weekly column in the Argus, a creative writing scholarship competition in the Detroit Free Press. Bless her for all she did for so very many students. Gentle passing, Mrs. Rose.”
David Bartlett wrote, “THE most influential teacher, if not person, that I have ever known.”
She made such an impact statewide that the Michigan Interscholastic Forensics Association established “The Diana Rose Individual Events Award,” given each year to an outstanding high school forensics coach in Michigan.
