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"Only for Ms. Allen would I revisit and divulge to you my most embarrassing moment.  One day, Ms. Allen, our cheerleading coach at Culbreth Jr. High school, decided that we should get creative and spice things up a bit for the pep rally that year.  In order to do that, she came up with the idea of constructing a “dummy” that was to be dressed in a Guy B. Phillips football uniform.  At a predetermined point during the pep rally, the football team was supposed to come out of the locker room, tackle the dummy, and tear him apart to demonstrate to the entire student body how we were going to demolish our arch rival in the course of winning the game.    

As the head cheerleader, Mary Brehler was assigned the task of creating the football figure, and I assisted her in this glorious enterprise.  On the appointed day, Mary and I were supposed to take the figure out to center court during the pep rally.  The figure we had created was not easy to maneuver, so Mary decided to tie a very long jump rope around its neck with an end of the jump rope at each side. Mary was to carry one side of the figure and I was to carry the other while using the jump rope to help drag it along. 

We discussed our plan at great length, and everyone seemed to be onboard.  As the time for heading out to center court approached, Mary handed me one end of the jump rope and gathered hers loosely in her hands.  While I stood there waiting for our cue, I somewhat nervously wrapped the jump rope around my wrist as many times as possible.  At the appointed time, Mary and I headed out for center stage.  When we got to center court, Mary dropped her side of the rope in one easy motion, then turned toward Coach Van Hook and waved. That was apparently the signal.  Coach Van Hook immediately sounded the whistle and, before I knew it, the locker room door blew open and I was suddenly staring at the entire Culbreth Jr. High school football team heading in my direction at breakneck speed.  Frantically, I tried to get the tightly-coiled jump rope from around my wrist, but, before I could manage to disentangle myself, the players had reached the point of contact with the tackling “dummy.”  The first to tackle me was Tavis Foushee, who was followed quickly by the rest of the highly motivated football team.

Mary, finding my arm hanging out of the bottom of the pile, adding injury to insult, decided to give it a tug.  Suddenly, I felt as if I was about to lose an arm.  In the distance, I could hear whistles blowing and I vaguely remembered our principal, Mr. Edmonds, rushing over and peeling the players, one by one, from this enormous pile.  Once the last player was removed, Mary helped me to my feet, and I staggered around the court for a time, waving to let the crowd know that I was okay.   But the crowd—rather than being quieted by concern for my welfare was in hysterics.  That’s when I realized why:  I was standing before them in my cheerleading bloomers, while Tavis whirled my cheerleading skirt around in the air like a kind of trophy.  (Later, he would maintain that he was frantically trying to give it back to me.)

As you can imagine, I was mortified.  I rushed over to Tavis to retrieve my skirt, literally jumped back into it, and headed toward the sidelines to bury my head.  That’s when I noticed Ms. Allen, standing there laughing uncontrollably.  At that moment, seeing her laughing so heartily, I was suddenly able to laugh at myself and at what had just occurred.  What else was I to do?  Through this, I learned some very important lessons about life.  For one thing, I learned not to tie very long ropes around my wrist.  More importantly, I learned the importance of being able to laugh at myself, how to do it, and how to take pleasure in watching others laugh WITH me.  From that day forward, every time Ms. Allen and I saw each other, the memories of that specific event flashed across our faces and evoked a laugh deep from within.

Thank you, Ms. Allen, for the memories and the laughter!!!  Peace be with you."

JENNIFER FARRELL - RALEIGH, NC

"My name is Amanda Small, and I am convinced that Ms. Allen changed my life. She was first my cheerleading coach, then my mentor in ceramics, but most of all, she became a friend. Ms. Allen had a knack for teasing out the best parts of people, and certainly that is what she did for me. Right before I graduated from high school, Ms. Allen pulled me aside in the hallway and grinned at me, shaking her head, and said "you have come full circle, Amanda". I thought about that often, coming full circle, like coming home to yourself. The moment when you become a bit more YOU, and a lot more whole. You begin to care less about the "Them" and "Us" and more about the "WE". Ms. Allen knew how to give people that confidence, and enthusiasm, the spice and excitement about living. and live FULL she did. I can still recall her cackle and hoot when she laughed, and her resounding shouts to get us moving on the dance floor. She instilled in me my love of performing (woah, she and Quentin and their dance routines!!) and my love for art and things creative. She too, was a cheerleader to everyone. Be it in sports, or theater, art, or math, she made you feel like you were the star, and right where you ought to be. Again, that feeling of coming home. I almost didn't go to college, but now I am in Graduate school as a candidate for my Masters of Fine Arts in, you guessed it, ceramics. I never stopped loving to act, or sing, or dance, and especially to make art. Ms. Allen had the gift of bringing us home, at home in ourselves, and I will always be grateful and awed by her ability to allow each of us to find our niche and to grow."

AMANDA SMALL

"My name is Jon Broome and I graduated CHHS in 1986.  Ms. Allen was always my favorite teacher at Chapel Hill High School. I remember so many of the art classes she taught me when I was a junior there. She truly taught me to see life and all it's beauty through my heart, not just my eyes. I remember how lightly and faint I would sketch something on my drawing pad. She would tell me to "have confidence in what I draw" and "the story your charcoal tells is always a bestseller"! She handed out confidence like it was from a candy dish. I also remember that one of the most important things about creating art was Ms.Allen setting the right mood. She would always play some music while we sketched in class. Boy, oh boy, did she love UB40? I still think of her every time I hear "Red,Red wine".
I will always remember my wonderful art teacher fondly and treasure how she taught me to see the world in a powerful way."

JON BROOM - RALEIGH, NC

"I  was not fortunate to be one of her students (I attended Phillips and she was not at CHHS when I was there) , but I was frequently mistaken as her daughter. People said to me and to her that we looked alike! The day I finally met her, she came up to me at a game I think.  My childhood friend, Courtney Brooks introduced us.  She said, "I guess you are my look a like daughter, that I never had!" From that day on, we always had a hug and smile for each other.  There are so many of you, like my sister Kevah, who was fortunate to know her better than I.  But, all I have ever known or heard of her, was positive and full of love, admiration and respect. She was the type of educator who knew all the kids in the community, and had a caring heart and concern for her students.  Ms. Allen went above and beyond the color line, she was a teacher and friend to all who knew her.  We have all been blessed to have had her in our lives.  Thank you so much to her family for sharing her with the students and families of our community."

LETITIA JONES DAVISON - DURHAM, NC