Smith Spreads Happiness to Her Students

February 10, 2021

By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications

When thinking back to her time at Lehigh, Dia Johnson Smith doesn't remember the games. She admits they all run together.

Instead, she remembers something more important… something that has carried forward into her professional career.

"There was this one day when it was super rainy outside at practice," said Smith. "Coach [Allison] Moxey had us tape a piece of paper to our backs and had us walk around and write something kind, something nice on the back of every other player."

At the end, one comment stood out to Smith – "I love that you're happy."

She still has her paper to this day.
Dia Johnson Smith
"I don't even know who wrote it," said Smith. "I didn't know I wasn't happy, but there must have been a couple years when I didn't seem happy."

That moment led to lessons for Smith, which remain important in her work today as a teacher.

"I need to be cognizant of how I'm putting myself off to people," she said. "I need to really think about what matters, what makes me happy, and carry that through to the younger children I'm teaching."

The former Lehigh women's soccer great has been teaching in the Lehigh Valley since not long after graduation, the last 22 years of which in the Allentown School District.

Currently, Smith is teaching fifth grade.

"I am co-teaching with another teacher," she said. "He teaches the math part of both our home rooms and I teach the English language arts component, so mine is reading and writing."

Class has been virtual since last March when the COVID-19 pandemic forced widespread shutdowns and changes to normal, everyday life. With the changes have come plenty of challenges.

"Back in March, a lot of our kids didn't have chrome books," said Smith. "We had maybe maximum 10 in the classroom, so we spent a good part of the end of the school year trying to make sure every kid had a chrome book. Trying to get them connected on the chrome book virtually was another challenging aspect of remote learning. Continuing this year, there's still technological problems and it's not always easy to get the kids to school if they need assistance. Attendance is also a big challenge."

Due in large part to her experience with Lehigh women's soccer, Smith felt prepared to work through challenges sent her and her colleagues' ways.

"We were a club program the year before I came in to Lehigh," she said. "I was used to being part of a high school program where we were winning all the time, then you start in an environment where you're going to take your hits. It was an adjustment. You had to learn how to work together with a different group of people and set goals differently.

"That's one part I can take into teaching virtually," Smith continued. "My goals at Lehigh were not the same as high school. Maybe our success wasn't in terms of wins and losses, but in terms of making it through the season and competing at the level the Patriot League required."

Today in the classroom, goals have certainly been adjusted as well.

"I am not a computer person, so success for me looks a lot different than my co-teacher," said Smith. "I am trying to take it one day at a time and trying to express to my children that we're all in this together. We are going to struggle and sometimes when you're struggling, you learn different ways to do things and what success looks like for you.

"In that regard, being a student-athlete does help you learn how to balance your goals and expectations when things are different and challenging."

Like as a soccer player – when a team-first mindset was critical – the same is true in Smith's role as a teacher today.

"At the beginning of the year, we had this new learning program and a couple parents really stepped up and said they figured out how to do this with the learning platform and it seemed to be working well," said Smith. "We took their suggestions, implemented them and that's helped us work as a unit in the classroom and experience that success together.

"For the whole class to have success, it only happens when we're all experiencing the same amount of success," she continued. "If one person doesn't get it, we can't really move on until everyone understands how things are going."

The Lehigh Valley is special to Smith, who has lived in the area her entire life. Growing up in Quakertown, she often attended Lehigh Basketball games with her mother, which helped introduce her to Lehigh.

"My mom put this huge scrapbook together," said Smith. "Back in those days, we had scrapbooks with my high school clippings and she sent them to Coach Moxey, who reached out and said she'd be very interested in having me as a student-athlete at Lehigh."

The opportunity to suit up at Lehigh was a no-brainer.

Transitioning to Lehigh wasn't always easy, but Smith credits the program's seniors (Erin Gallivan, Donna Corrado and Sara Dill) for helping her get through.

"They were the three most amazing women and leaders," said Smith. "I was scared to death about what school was like. The three of them led the freshmen in an unbelievable way and were excellent role models who guided us and showed us the ropes. I had to learn how to come out of my shell.

"My first week at Lehigh, I was crying every day to my parents, but around the second week after having been with the team, I was no longer crying anymore," she continued. "I was having a blast and feel like I can attribute a lot to the leadership of the seniors."

Smith couldn't be more appreciative of the welcoming, inclusive environment as well.

"I was the only African American on the team," she said. "I certainly was not of the socioeconomic status of the other girls on the team, but they never treated me any differently. I was just one of them. I always felt embraced, valued, appreciated – like everybody on the team felt. "
Dia Johnson Smith
Smith went on to become a pioneer for the Lehigh women's soccer program, which has gone on to have great success to this day. She remains the program's record holder for goals (37) and points (99) in a career, and is tied for first in assists (25). Smith is also in the Lehigh Athletics' Hall of Fame.

"It means so much to be considered one of the pioneers of Lehigh women's soccer," said Smith. "It was such an honor to be inducted and to forever be commemorated with people who made impacts on Lehigh in such powerful ways. Soccer has brought me so many advantages that I wouldn't have had. I attribute a lot to my mother, and my father was equally amazing."

Smith's father opened the door to soccer when she was five.

"He was a truck driver and would spend countless hours playing with my brother, sisters and me outside on the fields," she said. "He was never too tired. My parents attended every single game we ever played.

"Oftentimes, when we were playing intramurals, he would take us out to the field late at night," Smith continued. "If we didn't win, we'd have to run laps around the field.

"He was building in the expectation and commitment to success that I took into my experience at Lehigh."

That commitment to success has been a staple throughout Smith's career in education as well. When she first got to Lehigh, she actually wanted to study law.

"I'd say my first real desire to be a teacher was when I was coaching at summer camps," she said. "I had such a phenomenal time and phenomenal experience with the other camp counselors and with the children, teaching them how to do something new and seeing that love of the sport we all shared."

Smith went on to coach post-graduation, and eventually transition into teaching. Her undergraduate degree was in sociology, then she returned to Lehigh as a graduate assistant coach and earned her elementary education master's.

The rest is history.

Smith is also a proud mother of two.

"Michael (who is currently a junior at Lehigh) and Brianna (who is currently a freshman at Prairie View in Texas) are both excelling academically at their schools and the way they balance the challenges of the pursuit of higher education in the midst of a global pandemic is an inspiration to me," said Smith. "I am so grateful for them and the message of tenacity that they bring to me every day."

Even amidst the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, Smith remains as passionate as ever about the difference she can make on young people's lives.

"What makes me passionate about what I do is the students I teach," she said. "You can be having the absolute worst day and come into the classroom, or the Zoom as it is right now, and all it takes is one kid to say something so unbelievably nice or funny and your mood just instantly falls away."
Dia Johnson Smith
Smith shared one recent example.

"I normally wear my hair up in a bun, but one morning – because I was doing this interview – I had my hair down," she said. "Within the first 10 seconds, one of the students said oh my gosh, I really like your hair; you should wear it down more. And I was like wow, that was such an incredibly nice thing for you to say.

"I feel like if I can say nice things to the kids and they learn how to be a kinder person from what they're seeing from me, from their parents and from other kids in our classroom, that's very motivating."

Smith is a light in these children's lives, carrying on the message she received decades earlier from a teammate

"I love that you're happy."

"The quote reminds me that even though times are tough and challenging, what matters is the kids are happy," said Smith. "If people are saying kind things to you, if people are treating you kindly, then you're probably going to be a happier person and at the end of the day, all I want is for my students to be happy, successful and kind.

"If I can play a small part, I will do everything in my power to make that happen."