Ms. Alena Allen ends ten-year teaching career devoted to Latin program development

Ms.+Alena+Allen+ends+ten-year+teaching+career+devoted+to+Latin+program+development

Orry Marciano, Staff Writer

Students and teachers alike funneled into Cabrini Hall room 107 last Tuesday to welcome back Ms. Alena Allen after her long leave from teaching. They brought along with them celebratory food items such as brownies, cookies, and sticks of chocolate, which were placed on her desk by the substitute teacher who took over her job for the time she was gone.

Along the whiteboards around her room, students wrote in several different colors: “Welcome Back Ms. Allen!! We Missed You!” Also, someone drew a puzzle piece on one of the boards, its original purpose unclear, until a student wrote above it: “You Were The Missing Piece To Our Puzzle!”

When Ms. Allen arrived, cheers and hugging ensued as everyone lined up to give their greetings. She looked pleasantly surprised by the mass of Dons in her room. One difference from her appearance before, however, was a new neck brace she received after her surgery.  “I look like Darth Vader!” she said, laughing with everyone else.

Students filled her in on the latest from their AP Latin exam and teachers engaged in friendly conversation. Throughout the lunch period, people came in and welcomed her back. For those who were students, this could mark the last time they had a chance to see her. “The reason that I went to Ms. Allen’s room was to say goodbye. She’s been such a wonderful teacher throughout the whole year,” said sophomore Bradley Sweeney. “It’s sad to see her leave our school. She brought a certain passion to the classroom and made it more enjoyable.”

After ten years of teaching at CCHS, Ms. Allen will indeed be leaving. “The time did seem to fly by!” she said. Long before coming to Cathedral (USDHS when she first arrived), Ms. Allen was not even sure if she wanted to teach. Though she majored in Classics for her B.A., she was young and wanted a more active job. She decided on becoming a physical therapist, engaging herself in Northwestern University’s Physical Therapy program. This job would have a major influence on her physical health in the future.

When that part of her career closed, she returned to Graduate School to work on her Master of Arts in Classics, and taught Latin 1 and 2 as an instructor in college. “What got me into teaching Latin was my deep love of Classical Literature, especially Classical Epics like the Iliad and the Odyssey in Greek, and the Aeneid in Latin,” she said.

Once she started to teach at Cathedral ten years ago, Ms. Allen was content in sharing her passion for Classical Language and Literature.  “Her love for Latin has made the language more satisfying to me and makes me want to continue it in the future,” said Sweeney. At the time she started, the Latin program was not as developed. Throughout her years at Cathedral, she made it her personal job to help it grow, a struggle that followed her for her entire career.

Throughout Ms. Allen’s professional career, a pain, most likely from her time as a physical therapist, had been building up in her neck. Addressing the pain just recently, she decided to have neck surgery, and Tuesday was the first time Ms. Allen was at Cathedral in months. She was told time off of teaching could greatly assist in her recovery.

Overall, Ms. Allen is grateful for her CCHS experience. She added and said, “I am very sad to leave my students and fellow teachers.” At her lunch welcoming, sophomore Molly Brennan also had the chance to say her final goodbyes (or as they say it in Latin, “Vale”) to Ms. Allen: “She’s taught me so much.  Although I’ve only had her for a year I’ve come to love her as a teacher and as a person,” she said.