This year, many new teachers have entered the Montrose community, including Ms. Gracie Allen, who has already made a long lasting impression on everyone that has had the privilege of meeting her! Ms. Allen is a Saint Thomas Moore teaching fellow with the Catholic talent project, which is what brought her to Boston. After teaching English and Religion for grades 6-8 at St. Mary of the Assumption, Ms. Allen came to Montrose to teach sixth grade Literature and eighth grade Civics. She likes both subjects equally but enjoys different things about each. As someone who is, and always has been, passionate about American history and government, it is exciting for Ms. Allen to come to Civics class everyday and teach about it. As for Literature, Ms. Allen has taught it for the past two and a half years. In her own words, she loves “discovering truth through the arts with students and deepening imaginations.”
Ms. Allen grew up in San Diego, California for 17 years until moving to Nashua, NH, where she completed high school. Then, finished her studies at the University of Dallas, where she studied political philosophy and theology and minored in business. In an interview with Ms. Allen, reflecting on how her college experience impacted her teaching, she mentioned that a moral theology class in her junior year of college inspired her to be a teacher. She describes the moment “something clicked and I realized that these great truths suddenly became understandable to me and that was something that I so wished I had received earlier in life and I got this really great desire to teach young girls to communicate and make really deep truths understandable to them.”
Ms. Allen decided to come to Montrose this year to challenge herself and grow as a teacher. Looking forward to the personal, spiritual and academic performance and guidance for both the students and the faculty motivated her to teach here. In discussing what Ms. Allen loves most about Montrose, she shared: “The focus on what really matters is probably one of my favorite things here… the girls are alive and sweet and fun and it makes teaching fun.” In the classroom, this shows clearly. Ms. Allen brightly radiates her love for the subject and teaching to students, which is another one of her favorite things about teaching. She noted: “ I love working with people and I love talking about things I’m passionate about which happened to be American government and literature. I’m never bored as a teacher. Each day is filled with a new interesting and exciting event or interactions.”
Despite the wonderful things Ms. Allen loves about Montrose, her favorite teaching memory was not here but at her old school. An old student of hers confessed that Ms. Allen had changed her life by introducing her to Jesus Christ. In tears, the student asked her to be her confirmation sponsor and her mentor and to this day, they keep in touch as friends. This shows just how deep and beautiful of a connection Ms. Allen is able to make with others as well.
Ms. Allen has also connected with many people in various ways and places, as she has traveled all over the world. Having family in Ireland, she has visited there twice. Ms. Allen also studied abroad in Rome, which she said was “one of the best experiences of [her] life!” Her favorite places she has traveled to, however, are Belgium, Scotland, Australia and Greece. Recently, she enjoyed walking the Camino in Spain this past summer.
Aside from the places she has been to, other hobbies she enjoys are tennis, crocheting, cooking, baking, and volleyball, which she coached for MS volleyball this fall. Ms. Allen also loves to read, and her favorite genre is dystopian fiction. Some of her favorite books include Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. She also enjoys Les Miserable by Victor Hugo, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen.
A favorite motto that Ms. Allen lives by is “speak truth, share joy,” which is very fitting for a teacher. One of her favorite Bible verses is Psalms 46, verse 10, and it is, “Be still and know that I am God.” Her interpretation of this verse is “Chill out and let God be God.”
Finally, Ms. Allen’s advice for everyone is simple and also from when she walked the Camino in Spain. She said, “The Camino taught us (her and friends who accompanied her) a truth about life we couldn’t have learned otherwise. Keep it simple. Walk. Pray. Trust. Surrender. The more distractions fall away, the more room there is for God to be God.” This quote can also be found in an article on Catholic Exchange, titled Three Pilgrims-Turned-Missionaries on the Road to Santiago, written about Ms. Allen’s experience.
Ms. Allen is an amazing teacher who has already impacted many individuals. The Montrose community is very blessed to have such a wonderful addition to our school, and we look forward to seeing how Ms. Allen helps her students and Montrose flourish this second semester!
By Cristina Florez ‘30, Contributing Writer, & Eloisa Pap ‘30, Clubs and Classes Editor
30cflorez@montroseschool.org & 30epap@montroseschool.org
