Montgomery County's Heart of Education: Meet Adam Allison

Montgomery County Schools is partnering with the Mt. Sterling Advocate to highlight the outstanding educators who make a difference in our schools each day.

A different teacher will periodically be featured in the Advocate.

Adam Allison is a sixth-eighth grade theater teacher, musical director and Mock Trial head coach at McNabb Middle School.

All 13 of his years of his time spent as an educator have been with Montgomery County Schools.

Adam attended Point Park University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in theater as well as a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of the Cumberlands. He also has several certifications in varying fields.

His classroom, he says, is more than just a place where students learn. 

“It is a place where they are seen, valued and encouraged to become more than they believed possible. My students are not simply part of my work; they are the reason it matters and why I try hard in giving so much of myself to them. My greatest hope is that they leave knowing their voices matter, their stories are worth telling, and they will always have someone in their corner.”

Adam said he was inspired to become a teacher because he’s “always been drawn to seeing potential in people, especially young people who may not yet recognize it in themselves.”

He doesn’t simply teach.

“I attempt to create places where students feel noticed, needed and brave enough to try. I understand that the student who is restless, insecure, struggling, overlooked or unsure where they belong may be one invitation away from discovering an entirely different version of themselves. 

“I have seen athletes, technicians, performers, quiet students and students with challenges find confidence and community through my programs I run and the classes I teach, and those transformations genuinely matter to me. I am deeply motivated by building what I wish every child could have: an adult who takes them seriously, refuses to give up on them, celebrates their gifts and gives them a meaningful role in something larger than themselves,” Adam added. 

In the simplest terms, Adam shares that he became a teacher “because I needed my life’s work to matter, and because helping young people discover that they matter is what makes it matter most.”

Investing energy in details most people would never see—messages, accommodations, difficult conversations, scheduling compromises, costumes, sets, safety plans and second chances—are not administrative chores, Adam says. 

Instead, “They are ways of telling students, ‘You matter, and I prepared a place for you.’”

Inspiring people gives his own life purpose.

“McNabb became my vehicle, but the real work has always been belonging. I am trying to leave students more confident, compassionate, capable and hopeful than they were when they entered my classroom.”

The most enjoyable moments are witnessing firsthand a student as they being to see something in themselves Adam says he had already noticed.

“I love watching the quiet student find their voice, the hesitant student become courageous, the struggling student discover a place to belong and the student others may have overlooked realize they are capable of something remarkable. The final performance matters to me, but the transformation that happens along the way matters far more. I genuinely enjoy building relationships with my students. 

“I want to know them as individuals their strengths, fears, challenges, personalities and dreams. I want every student to understand that they are not simply a name on a roster or a role on a cast list. They are people whose presence matters.”

Adam credits his eighth-grade teacher, Pam Burton, and his mother and father, for being his biggest influence.

“Pam Burton believed in me more deeply than I ever believed in myself. Her faith helped shape not only the person I became, but also the teacher I continue striving to be. She taught me that education must be rooted in grace—that I should forgive my students for their mistakes, give them room to grow and begin again and humbly hope they will offer me that same forgiveness when I make mistakes of my own. 

“Her example reminds me that the greatest teachers do more than teach lessons; they believe in their students until those students learn to believe in themselves. My mother and father gave me that same unwavering belief long before I entered a classroom. They have supported me through every dream, disappointment, triumph and uncertain step—and, to this day, they remain my greatest champions. Their love has been the steady foundation beneath everything I have built and the quiet strength behind every student I have encouraged. 

“Pam taught me the power of a teacher’s belief, while my parents taught me the enduring power of unconditional love. Together, they showed me that sometimes the greatest gift we can give another person is to see who they might become—and to keep believing in them until they can see it too.”

Creating something meaningful, such as the theater productions at McNabb, is very meaningful, according to Adam.

“There is tremendous joy in watching students, families, directors, staff members and community volunteers become one team. Seeing hundreds of individual efforts eventually become something none of us could have accomplished alone is incredibly rewarding.” 

Some of the most meaningful moments, however, come later on when Adam shares that “Former students return, share what they have accomplished, offer to mentor the next generation or tell me that something I said or provided made a difference in their lives. Those moments remind me that I am not merely teaching scenes, songs, movement or technical skills. I am helping young people develop confidence, resilience, relationships and memories they may carry for the rest of their lives.”

Teaching provides allows Adam to give students, he says, “The opportunity to surprise themselves and being fortunate enough to witness it happen.”

Adam says he would describe his teaching style in the following three words: compassionate. transformative, inclusive.

Adam used the words of one of his favorite teachers, Mrs. Gullett, to describe what he hopes all who enter/leave his classroom take with them: “As you enter my classroom I expect you to respect my position as teacher. As you leave, I hope I’ve earned that true respect.”

If he could offer students just one piece of advice, it would be “Believe in who you are becoming, give yourself grace when you fall, never stop showing up and don’t compromise yourself, you are all that you have.”

Some of his favorite memories from the classroom include “When the curtain falls on opening night after six months of dreaming, creating, struggling, sacrificing and believing. In that single moment, every late night, difficult decision, exhausted rehearsal, quiet doubt and hard-earned breakthrough comes together and becomes something far greater than a performance. As the final note fades and the applause rises, I look around and see what our directors, students, parents, families, volunteers, school and community have created together. 

“It never belongs to one person; it is the culmination of countless hands, hearts, sacrifices, talents and acts of faith woven into something none of us could have ever created alone. I see more than a finished production. I see how much our students have grown, how deeply they have learned to trust one another and how courageously they have stepped beyond who they once believed they could be.”

While scenery will come down, costumes will be packed up and the stage will grow quiet again, Adam says “What we created together will remain within each of us. That feeling—the overwhelming pride of watching hundreds of individual sacrifices become one unforgettable, shared moment is almost sacred to me. Words will never fully capture it. It is the moment when hard work becomes wonder, when individuals become a family and when I am reminded exactly why I became a teacher.”

His students might be surprised to learn that he keeps all letters, drawings and pieces of artwork students give him. 

“Once a year, I sit alone in my classroom and read every note and look through every picture again—some of them over and over. I do not have children of my own, so these small gifts hold a place in my heart that is difficult to explain. They remind me that although I may never experience parenthood in the traditional sense, I have been given the extraordinary privilege of caring for, encouraging and helping shape the lives of thousands of children. 

“In the quiet of that classroom, their words and artwork remind me that the long hours, sacrifices, worries and moments of self-doubt have meant something. They reassure me that I have made a difference, not only through what I have taught, but through how I have made a child feel. Those keepsakes are far more than paper to me. They are pieces of lives that have touched mine, reminders of the love students have shared with me and proof that the work I have devoted my life to matters. They bring me a happiness I cannot fully describe and renew my sense of purpose as a teacher.”

As for the community here, Adam says McNabb and the school system are more than simply a workplace.

“They are home. This community has trusted me to dream boldly, build something meaningful and become the teacher I was meant to be. Its students, families, educators and supporters continually show up for one another with generosity and heart. McNabb has given me friendships that became family and students who have changed my life as profoundly as I hope I have changed theirs.”