Meet Rosa Allen!

Rosa Allen's official title is Vice Principal for Instruction at Lott Carey Mission School but that hardly begins to describe her job or tell her story.  LOEP volunteers always leave Liberia wishing every school everywhere could have Rosa running things!  She is a remarkable, dedicated educator whose story is told below in her own words.

In answer to LOEP's interview questions, Rosa writes:

I grew up in Bong County, Liberia where I was born.  My parents hail from Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. I lived in Grand Cape Mount County with my grand-aunt from age two to eight and then returned to my parents in Bong.  

I joined the 4-H Club when I was in the fourth grade and attended the G. W. Gibson Elementary School in Sinjeam, Bong County where I attained my elementary education.  In the 4-H Club we had a garden project and a rice project.  We learned how to plant a back yard garden and also learned how to plant swamp rice.

When I was in sixth grade I knew I would become a teacher.  I was always the teacher in group play.

When I entered high school, I started to teach my sibling (my only sister), and other kids who lived with my parents on our farm.  During my study at Cuttington, (Liberian teacher's college), I opened a study class for three families and was paid $15 US Dollars per family.  I was able to use the money to buy extra food and sometimes clothes at college.  It was a very exciting period of my life because the children and their parent love me and looked forward to my visits to teach.  Two families fed me every day.  This was my first real teaching experience.  

Come to think about it, this is the first that I have had the chance to reflect on where I started my journey as a teacher.

I have taught preschool, elementary school and high school  but settled in the junior high school. I taught Language Arts in grades seven through nine for over 10 years. 

active, 

I love it when a child achieves/performs.  For example, when a child is given a task and completes the task there is an inner glow that shows on the face and a change that can be recognized in the child.  Any teacher should be able to see the glow in their students.  I love it when I am able to recognize and see the glow.  Then I know that I am a good teacher.

Yes, I miss teaching.  I substitute when teachers are absent or I sometimes teach an English class.

Thank you.  I enjoyed this but never thought about writing it down.

Rosa was one of a select few Liberian educators selected for a special Early Childhood Education study tour to the U.S. in November, 2014.  She founded a school in 2003 and is active in her community.  She is married to an insurance executive and they have four children and three grandchildren. 

Rosa is a professional educator - an asset to the profession and to her nation.

Mrs. Allen in her office at LCMS 

Rosa visits with the LOEP team during her recent trip to the US