Clifton Teachers
Yet somehow, those childhood dreams slipped into the background. When Allison first went to college, she signed up as a communications major. “And then,” she continued, “it came back to me and I realized one day that what I really loved doing was working with children.” She switched majors and after getting her degree in Elementary Education from Towson University, Allison completed a master’s degree in Educational Technology at Ramapo College. She has been in Clifton Schools since 2005. Right now Allison is in her ninth year of teaching fifth grade at School 1, where she also heads up the School 1 School Student Spirit Committee, which helps organize student activities and monthly charitable events. “I have only the warmest memories about my teachers,” said Allison, “my elementary school teachers, I remember them all. Very nurturing. And middle school. I think what also influenced me is that I worked in the office at Clifton High School. I got to see another side of teachers. I could see more fully a teacher’s life.” Allison can sometimes have up to 30 children in a classroom, and 30 fifth graders is quite a challenge. “But I love it,” she said, “I love working with the kids. You’re
14 January 2014 • Clifton Merchant
with them seven hours a day, five days per week, for most of the year. It’s really important. Sometimes with some of the children, you’re with them more than their parents. You see them grow and change and you know that you’re an important part of that change.” Clifton to the Core Allison and Bryan are both Clifton natives, she attended School 2 and Woodrow Wilson Middle School, he went to School 9 and Christopher Columbus. Not only are they natives, the Armstrong’s two children, Alexis and Sean, are the fourth generation to be Clifton natives, which makes both Allison and Bryan very proud. Allison’s paternal grandmother, Filomena, lived in Clifton her entire life, most of it with husband Nicholas Russo at their home in Rosemawr, across from Latteri Park. Filomena attended School 9, the same school Bryan attended decades later and the same school where one of Allison’s three older sisters, Kelley, now teaches. Allison’s maternal grandparents, Emil and Cassandra Sek, moved to Clifton during the 1940s, and Allison’s mother Patricia graduated CHS in 1967, the same year as Allison’s father Gary.