Maxine Gyles-Allen is best known as a Spanish teacher who works with every level of the foreign language classes here at Pattonville. Most people don’t know that Gyles-Allen was not born in the U.S., she was actually born in Kingston, Jamaica.

She knows not only Spanish, but actually speaks German and French as well.

She received her master’s degree in German and Spanish and found that learning different languages was easy for her because it was required to learn Latin in school, which Spanish and French come from.

“These are all known as Romance languages,” she said.

What all does Gyles-Allen do outside of school? She travels many different places, but how many?

“Oh lots, I’d have to count, somewhere around 15 and 20 countries,” she said.

Which is her favorite?

Well, at first she couldn’t decide, but she finally chose China to be the most fascinating to her.  She said that there were very many ethnic regions.

She also found that the Great Wall of China was amazing to see while she was down there.

Especially in inner-Mongolia, she found many different foods that she wasn’t expecting. She didn’t find them very “Chinese” but they were delicious.

Who does Maxine Gyles-Allen take all of these great trips with? She says that she would take father-daughter trips and mother-daughter trips.  She would take trips with her sister also, but most of all she travels with her husband.

Why would she stay here in America if she could live in so many fascinating places?  Well, she went to college in New York.  She also met her husband here in the U.S. and they got married here.  Her family and friends live here also, so she wouldn’t want to leave them.

As you can see Mrs. Gyles isn’t just a teacher, her life outside of school is fascinating.