By Luis Ramos, Reporter
Robin Allen is a person not only to be recognized for her abilities and experiences in school, but outside of it as well. Ms. Allen has overcame many triumphs in her life that have made her as strong as she is; she was once married, but her husband passed away over a year ago and since then she has been a widow and single mother of two.
To fully understand where Ms. Allen is today, it is important to rewind to where her journey first began. Ms. Allen is a math teacher and was hired here 18 years ago when Jim Fernald, the head of the math department, called her for a job opening; she has been teaching here ever since.
As a Colorado native, she grew up in Englewood. She went to Englewood High School and admitted that it was a good experience. She was very involved during those years; Ms Allen was involved in swimming, cheerleading, and theatre. After graduating she went on to study at CSU, after that Arapahoe Community College, and finally UNC.
Ms. Allen however, is a teacher that does a lives a much more eventful life outside of school than someone may expect. Ms. Allen is a mother of two girls who are 8 and 11 years old, but before she had kids she got into martial arts and was also a professional clogger for three years.
Ms. Allen currently coaches at CARA swimming during the summer and has recently currently took a black belt equivalent test in Martial Blade Concepts and now is an associate instructor.
Additionally, Ms. Allen received a black belt in Taekwondo 2 years ago and she is on her way to take another black belt test in Combat Hapkido next year, students take her seriously.
Math teacher Kim Whatley, “Ms. Allen always has the students in mind first, it’s always about how can she get her kids moving forward. Something you might not know is that she’s always really super willing to help out our colleagues too. Not only is she always helping out the kids, she’s also helping out us, she’s great.”
She demonstrates that her privilege is not just to make the students feel more comfortable but also everyone around her. Even though Ms. Allen has a black belt and is on her way to earning another one and she is an associate instructor in martial blade concepts, she is still a person willing to help out the rest.
“My goals, as always, are to reflect and improve on my teaching,” said Ms. Allen. “As the students change so much, I don’t believe there is one way of doing things and one way isn’t best for everyone. I look for ways to challenge kids at all levels and build their confidence in their math abilities.”
Sophomore Maddie Heiken said, “It (her teaching) pumps us up and she keeps us engaged.”
Regardless of what life brings her Ms. Allen openly shows that anyone can still continue living a strong life, both physically and mentally.
