For the Education Service Center Regional 12 Secondary 2011 Teacher of the Year, the military and teaching go hand in hand.

Diane Untalan, Patterson Middle School eighth-grade teacher and coach, shared stories about her Asian-Pacific Island heritage with a standing-room-only crowd of Operational Test Command Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and contractors May 25 at the command’s annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month observance.

The daughter of a retired Army noncommissioned officer and the wife of an Army major, Untalan said that serving the nation is something that is an integral part of not only her family’s lineage, but also of Asian Pacific American history.

“Soldiers and teachers do what they do because we have the same values and we want to give something back,” she said. “That can also be said of those with Asian Pacific American heritage; we serve our country in small ways.”

Her father, Fred Gomez, is of Filipino descent and is the biomed engineer coordinator at Metroplex Hospital; her mother, Helen Gomez, an administrative assistant for OTC’s Maneuver Test Directorate, is a native of Guam. Untalan, born in Hawaii, barely spoke English when her family moved to Killeen.

“I was two years behind my classmates and having to take remedial classes,” she said. “I was always struggling and didn’t think I was as smart as the other kids.

“I worked harder and harder each year and was able to take the English honors class my senior year in high school,” she said. Untalan graduated from Killeen High School and then attended the University of Texas at Brownsville where she was an All-American volleyball player. She graduated from Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in bio-psychology and chemistry.

Noting that this year’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month theme is “Leadership to Meet the Challenge of a Changing World,” Untalan credited her grandparents, parents and the military for her accomplishments.

“Being an Army brat and having the military as a very important part of my life, I learned grace from the military,” she said, “and sacrifice, resilience, appreciation and dedication from my father.

“I learned forgiveness, to stay true to my beliefs, that money isn’t everything, and to protect and defend my family, from my mother,” she said.

Her background, Untalan said, makes her feel a particular connection to students from military families.

“My goal is for them to be happy, successful, independent and able to function on their own,” she said. “The world is a scary place, and if I can help make it better, then I want to do that.”

Musical entertainment was provided by Kainoa Kamaka and the Pacific Heights Express dance group. America’s Martial Arts Institute head instructor Earl Henderson provided a martial arts demonstration during lunch. Attendees sampled food from Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, India, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Guam provided by local restaurants.