Faculty

Shannon Newman teaches PreK-2.  She began teaching at Allen Academy in 2007. Originally from Angleton, Texas, she has lived in College Station for the past 18 years.  Shannon graduated from Texas A&M University in 1996 with a degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism specializing in Convention and Event Coordinating. She found her love for teaching substituting in local schools and volunteering in her own children’s classrooms. The satisfaction of being in the classroom with the students, teaching them and watching their love of learning led her to complete her Texas teaching certification in Early Childhood through fourth grade in 2006.  Shannon’s goal as a teacher is to provide each child with a nurturing, loving, enriched learning environment that will increase his or her love of learning for years to come.  She strives to instill in her students the feeling that they are a “classroom family”. 

When not teaching she enjoys spending time with her husband, Jason, and our two wonderful daughters, Madison and Payton.  

Kylie Korthas teaches Kindergarten at Allen. She enjoys traveling the world and spending time with friends and family. Kylie recently opened her heart and her home to foster children, 1 year old Kaiden, and 2 year old, Chelsea.  She also has 2 mini dachshunds, Cali and Wiloh. Kylie has taught six years of preschool and this will be her fourth year of teaching kindergarten. She has been with Allen Academy going on 6 years. Working at summer camps for eight years has played an important role in her development as a teacher. Her experiences at Life for Youth (FL), Star Ranch/Charis Hills (TX), and Allen Academy have instilled a better understanding of children and learning styles. Respect, patience, and communication are very important qualities she holds high as a teacher. She is in the education profession because of the opportunity it offers to embed life skills and values into every child that steps through her classroom door. She views learning not as something that is forced, but rather as something taught without them knowing. Ms. Korthas believes that hands-on activities that actively involve students in learning, visual aids, and having children take responsibility for self and actions make learning fun and the environment comfortable. She views each of the children that enter her classroom as special and unique in their own way, and looks to find their individual qualities and bring them out of each child.

Originally from Huntsville, TX she has lived in College Station for eight years. She first came to College Station to attend Texas A&M where she majored in Interdisciplinary Studies. Mrs. Ray came to Allen Academy in February of 2006 as a long-term substitute in Kindergarten. Her stint as a substitute Kindergarten teacher led to her joining the Allen family full time. Mrs. Ray is excited to begin her fifth year of teaching. She loves watching her students learn and grow each day!

Bobbie Jill Lively joined the Allen Academy family in 2006. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with Cum Laude honors and also has a degree in Political Science. Prior to receiving her Interdisciplinary degree, Bobbie Jill worked eleven years for a medical risk management company as Director of Auditing. Bobbie Jill is married and has one daughter. She is very active in the community and has volunteered for organizations including Girl Scouts, American Cancer Society and MDA. Bobbie Jill is currently on the Board of Directors for the Brazos Valley Figure Skating Club and holds the position of treasurer. When she is not in her classroom, Bobbie Jill enjoys spending time with her family and working in her garden.

Ms. Wendi Kamman will be teaching 3rd grade at Allen Academy for the 2011-12 school year.  This is her 10th year to teach, and she has taught 2nd-5th grade, all subjects.  Wendi graduated from Texas A&M University in 2002 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a double minor in Early Childhood and Reading. She received her Master degree from Sam Houston State University in 2010 with a degree in Reading Instruction and is also certified as a Reading Specialist.  Her classroom is focused around brain-based instruction with an emphasis on technology and hands on learning.  Ms. Kamman says, “I believe that if my students come to believe that learning is a lifelong adventure, and believe in facing each new day with minds that are open to knowledge and hearts that are open to love, they will believe in themselves and each other. As they come to acknowledge these beliefs, they also begin to believe in the freedom to wonder, to ask, to explore, to imagine and to create in order to learn more. In the end, my goal is to teach the children that success means doing their personal best, being their best, and feeling proud of themselves.”

Mrs. Buckland is working on her third year at Allen Academy.  Before coming to Allen Academy, she worked as a media teacher for grades K-2, an ESL tutor, (and more recently) managed an insurance and investments office in College Station.  She is thrilled about continuing to teach fourth grade math and science this year.  Mrs. Buckland has also taught reading and social studies in both fourth and fifth grade while at Allen.  She graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.  In addition to her teaching certification, she is also ESL certified.  Mrs. Buckland is proud to have graduated from Texas A&M with honors, Cum Laude and has been an active member of the National Honor Society.  She has been perusing her master’s degree in curriculum development at Texas A&M University and says she is passionate about teaching and can't think of doing anything else!

Mrs. Buckland has been married for three years and has a daughter whom is already on the waiting list for pre-k!  In addition to her family, she has four dogs and three horses.  Her hobbies include scrapbooking, photography, fishing, cooking, reading, and enjoying time with her family and friends!

Jenny Green Marquardt is in her first year of teaching 5th grade Math and Science at Allen Academy. 

A veteran teacher, who has taught on two continents, Mrs. Marquardt has been instructing students in various capacities for 7 years. She comes to Allen Academy from nearby Navasota Junior High School where she taught Resource English for grades 6-8.

Mrs. Marquardt lived "down under" in Australia for 10 years and taught math and reading in Brisbane, Queensland. During her time in Australia, she also helped operate a successful cattle ranch with her family.

She is married to Brad Marquardt and the couple have five children: Cody (16), Cameron (16), Ashton (14), Penny (13) and Daniel (11). In her spare time (which isn't much), Mrs. Marquardt enjoys traveling, playing adult league soccer, photography, swimming, surfing, spending time with her family and being involved at her church.

Karen White is Allen’s Instructional Technology Specialist. As the campus facilitator, her role will be to support the mission of the Technology Department. Instructional Technologists provide assistance to teachers and the curriculum department as technology is integrated into core subjects. Mrs. White’s duties will include consulting with faculty and staff in developing instructional uses of technologies; research, analyze and evaluate new technologies for potential applications in instruction; promote the implementation of technological innovations; create demonstrations of instructional applications of technologies; and mentor teachers with technology integration projects. This exciting new integration process will allow your child to experience technology with practical usage and not just in isolation!

Mrs. White received her BS from Texas A&M University in 1990 and her MS of Education in Integrated Technology in the Classroom from Walden University in 2009.

She enjoys music, playing golf, working in her flowerbeds and bird watching! She is active in her church Hand Bell Choir, Children’s Puppet Team, and other mission activities. She and her husband have three grown children, four beautiful granddaughters and one handsome grandson.

She also has a miniature dachshund named Sadie who demands a lot of her attention.

Joy McCoy teaches Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade general music classes, as well as, Fifth Grade Choir. This is her sixth year at Allen Academy. She is a graduate of Angelo State University with a Bachelors degree in Music Education. Joy and her husband, Nathan, enjoy making improvements to their house, gardening, and playing video games.

Cecile Castaneda will be joining our faculty as a French and Spanish teacher.  Ms. Castaneda grew up in France and graduated from the University Lumiere in Lyon in 1996. She lived for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area in CA where she taught French and helped her husband run his construction company. She also lived in the state of Aguascalientes in Mexico for 3 years where she taught French and English and was a certified court translator. She moved to Bryan TX in 2011 and teaches French and Spanish at Allen. She and her husband have 3 children and 1 Schnauzer. Ms. Castaneda loves reading, running with her dog, and traveling with her family. She also works as a freelance translator and has a passion for international cooking.  Ms. Castaneda’s French and Spanish lessons focus as much on building essential grammar skills as on encouraging the students to become fully proficient and comfortable expressing themselves in another language.

Terri Horton teaches our Middle School math. She started at Allen in January of the 2007-2008 school year. Before arriving in the Bryan/College Station area, she taught Middle School math and science for 13 years in the Austin and Round Rock public schools.

Constanza Blumenthal-Montealegre was born in Bogotá, Colombia, she moved to the United States to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota where she obtained her Ph.D. in 1996. A year later Mrs. Blumenthal moved to Scottsbluff, NE to join the faculty at the University of Nebraska. After 5 years in Nebraska she and her family came to Texas. She has two children that are students at Allen Academy. Patrick is in 6th grade and Arianna is in 4th grade.

BS Geography, with Environmental Science emphasis from Texas A&M University

Jamie is originally from the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, Texas.  She is a 1997 graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Geography with an Environmental Studies emphasis.  After working for nearly three years as an environmental consultant, Jamie decided her heart was in teaching and obtained her teaching credentials through the Region IV Alternative Certification Program in June 2000.  She has a secondary composite science certification and has experience teaching middle school science, IPC, Biology, Chemistry, AP Chemistry, and AP Environmental Science. 

Jamie began her teaching career in Conroe ISD at Knox Junior High in the The Woodlands for two years followed by five years teaching IPC, Biology, and AP Environmental Science at The Woodlands High School and The Woodlands College Park High School.  Her husband's job transferred her family to B/CS in 2007, and she taught IPC at A&M Consolidated High School for two years. 

She joined the Allen Academy faculty in the fall of 2009 as an upper and middle school science teacher.  She recently celebrated the birth of her second child, Carly.  Her son, Adrian, attends 1st Grade at Allen Academy.

Andrea Robison will be teaching US Drama & Speech and MS Drama & Choir. She received her Bachelor's degree from ACU and her Master's from TAMU. Last year, she directed the Allen Academy Theater students in the Fall play, The Giver, and the Spring musical, You're a Good Man, Chalie Brown.  Mrs. Robison is also very active in local theater; her recent acting credits include Catherine in The Foreigner, Elaine in Arsenic and Old Lace, Jackie in Mauritius and both Prudy Pingleton and the Prison Matron in Harispray.

Mrs. Robison lives in Bryan with her loving husband, Aaron, and her two wonderful dogs, Hobbes & Leroy.

Karli Anderson teaches middle school English and History, and is also the Yearbook Sponsor at Allen Academy. She was born and raised right here in Bryan/College Station, and graduated from Texas A&M University in 2009. Her passion is teaching, and she is always seeking opportunities to learn and grow as an educator. Ms. Anderson began her career at Allen Academy in the fall of 2009, and though she is new to the school, says she “truly feels at home with her Allen family!"

Mr. Earl Pullen has been with Allen Academy for 23 years and has taught for 31 years, spending eight years in the public schools in Hearne and Edinburg. Mr. Pullen teaches history and English classes from 7th grade through the seniors. He enjoys reading historical biographies and mysteries, watching science fiction movies, studying World War II and the Civil War, and working on his model railroad layout. He has been married to his wife Susan for 30 years and they presently have three cats and one very unusual parakeet.