Allie Buck

Exploring Monkton shortly after moving from Northeast Ohio, I distinctly recall driving by St. James and noticed a classroom with colored cutouts and cascading plants in the windows. “Surely that can’t be a school,” I thought, “it has such a sense of unique energy!” Shortly after, I met an 8th grade student at a family gathering who introduced himself, offered his hand, and began a conversation. He was so well-spoken that I asked him where he attended school. When he told me St. James Academy, I decided on the spot that was where I wanted to teach – a school full of plants and colors where children are taught to be kind, confident, and helpful members of their community.

As I begin my 12th year of teaching 4th grade at St. James Academy, I remain as enthusiastic as when I began. As an educator, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to help guide, inform, and inspire the children that walk into my classroom each morning. I am given the autonomy to tailor my lessons to the children’s needs, both as a group and as individual learners. I teach kindness, awareness, tolerance, inclusiveness, responsibility, and most of all, self-confidence.

My own education in Northeast Ohio centered on school, family, and gymnastics. Any free time was spent training in the gym some distance from my home. My homework was done in the car and I was a voracious reader! After receiving a B.S. in Psychology from Hiram College, I moved with my family to Maryland and began coaching gymnastics. I enjoyed teaching so much, I went on to earn a Masters in Education from the College of Notre Dame. I now teach in the very room that had the hanging plant and colorful cutouts of flowers. I met and married my husband at St. James, and our daughter is in kindergarten. We truly are a St. James family.