By Jadynne Brady
Editor-in-Chief
Angela Allison is a retiring social studies teacher here at Blue Springs South.
So how long have you been teaching?
This is my 26th year of teaching, but only my first at Blue Spring South.
Where did you teach before?
Oak Grove for 17 years, and then another school before that, another school before that.
What did you teach?
I teach US history this year and psychology. And that’s pretty much been my career, but I’ve also taught world history and economics and geography and the whole social studies curriculum, except for government. I’ve never taught government.
What got you into teaching?
I think it was the good teachers that I had in high school. It[teaching] wasn’t my first path. My first path was a psychology major and then I had to take a lot of foreign language, and I didn’t do really well in that. So just full disclosure, I switched my major, and I think it worked out. Because, 26 years later, here I am. My passion is psychology, so by getting to teach it, literally for 26 years, it’s kind of fulfilled that, my original goal of being in psychology.
Why did you decide to retire now?
Well, a lot of personal reasons. That wasn’t my plan when I came to Blue Spring South but my mom got sick this year. I mean, it’s just the stage of life, right? I’m at my age, you know. And so luckily, the Missouri retirement system says if a teacher teaches 25 years, then that’s like retirement age. This is my 26th, so I felt like there were signs telling me that it was time. But I love it here at Blue Spring South, and I wish I would have started teaching here years ago.
What are you going to be doing after this?
Spending a lot of time with my parents, who are much older, helping them out as much as possible. I think I’m going to work part time at Truman Library going forward, starting in the fall, which is going to feed my US History need in my life. I don’t think I’m done teaching, I think I’m just done teaching full time. So, really excited for that new opportunity.
What are you going to miss about teaching?
The students, absolutely. As much as students can frustrate teachers, this why we do the job. The students. Just staying current with all the terminology and the music and the interaction. I’ve always thought of teaching like this as the beginning and foundation of lifelong friendships. So that when we see each other 10 years down the road, at like Target, [and] we have a background and a story and a history. And I really love that, and I’ll miss that the most. Don’t get me wrong, there are days where the students frustrate me to no end. But it’s so fun to meet so many different people every year. I figure in my career I’ve maybe, had like 3000ish students. And that’s like a whole town of people. That’s pretty neat.
Is there anything that you’re going to miss about South?
Absolutely. My coworkers, the social studies departments, especially. Everybody here is super welcoming. I never felt like a newcomer to the district or to the school. I feel like the coworkers are going to be my number one after the students. I like the culture here. I know how students feel about the Thrive program, but as a new teacher coming in after so many years at different schools, there are really good things about that program. I won’t miss trying to convince students to listen to the lessons, but people don’t understand that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. And how good it is here, and how positive an environment that Dr. Gettings and the admin staff have made it. So, I’ll miss that.
Do you have a favorite memory of here?
Well, of teaching in general, I had two students at one of my previous schools and we took on a service project for the school. It’s a great memory of mine. The name of that school was Higginsville. And we painted this huge ‘H’, and then took all the student activities and sports and kind of created a collage within the H. And it took us a couple of weeks. We were working nights together, and then that gave me a really good perspective on seeing students outside of the classroom and like forging relationships. Because before that, I really wasn’t good at that part of the job. But I feel like that was like a turning point in my career where I got to know students outside of school and got to see more of their personality. And again, for me, that was a turning point moment. And that’s for all of teaching. But for here, it sounds so silly. It’s like little kids, like recess. I love lunch and getting to talk to my social studies colleagues. And the belly laughs that we have in that short 20-minute period. Just fills up my bucket for the afternoon classes sometimes. I’ll really miss working with them, I think as a whole.
Do you have any advice for future teachers?
Absolutely, you jump in with two feet. And some days are going to be really, really great, and you’re going to feel like you chose the right career. And there’s going to be a lot of days where you feel like you have chosen the wrong career and things have all gone wrong. You have imposter syndrome some days. Am I really here to lead these people through all this stuff? But if you hang on long enough, if you give yourself enough of a shot to keep coming back day after day, the years go by so fast. I think teachers that stay in the business for as long as a lot of these retired teachers have that I’m retiring with, they know that they were called to this position. They know that it’s more of a service to the community than it is like a personal mission, to just have the label as teacher.
Anything else that you thought I should know?
Other than just being very emphatic that I really enjoyed my time here. I think we’ve got a lot of good staff members and a lot of really cool students, and a lot of good programs and activities that that people should get involved in. I’ve had a lot of fun.
