The Legacy of Charlotte Allison Remembered by Her 1,500 Children
by Ruth Lepper

Charlotte Allison liked to tell people she had 1,500 children, even though she was never married. But she did, indeed, have 1,500 children. And she will be remembered by all of them. Charlotte Allison died Dec. 24, 2003, at the age of 95. She was a resident of Ramona since 1930.

She touched many lives during her 43 years as a first-grade teacher. All but one of those years were at Ramona Elementary School.

Among her cherished possessions were scrapbooks with photos of her students. She kept a card file with all their names and even had a card with the names of former students who later married other students from her classes.

Her teaching career spanned from 1930 to 1973, which brought second and third generations of children to her classrooms.

Charlotte Allison and Ramona Elementary class of 1953.

"I’ve taught here longer than anybody else," she said during an interview in August. "In the middle of 1949, people kept telling me, ‘You should go teach in the city.’ So I went down."

But only for one year when she taught at La Jolla Elementary School. She taught there from September 1949 to June 1950, always coming home to Ramona every weekend.

Ramona was her home and she wanted it to stay that way. The following year she returned to her classroom at Ramona Elementary School.

Allison had fond memories of one event she looked forward to as much as her students. It was the annual field trip to the Santa Fe train depot in San Diego.

She started the tradition in 1950, accompanying students and parents on a bus ride to Oceanside where they boarded the train to San Diego. It often was the first time to ride on a train for children and adults, alike.

Allison also liked to share the story about how she got her job at the Ramona elementary school district. She never applied for a job — anywhere.

Her uncle was married to a niece of one of the members of the local school board. When Allison was about to graduate from University of California, Los Angeles, her uncle mentioned to Ida Mae Kearny that Allison would soon be looking for a job.

"She sent me a contract," Allison said. "I didn’t even come for an interview."

When the school district wanted to start an afternoon class for the younger children, Allison offered to lend a hand.

That was the beginning of the kindergarten class at Ramona Elementary School.

"They had offered me the kindergarten job but I had gotten so I liked teaching reading to the first-graders," she said. "In those days, you didn’t teach reading to kindergartners. Kindergarten was more like preschool."

Another afternoon program soon drew her attention and found her teaching tennis and volleyball to girls in eighth grade.

She started an afterschool club for the girls, called the Laugh at Life Club.

"The girls would come over to my house," she said. "We’d sew and do all sorts of things."

But, unfortunately, her time at the junior high school didn’t last long. An official from the county schools office made an unexpected visit to the school and noticed the petite 5-feet-tall teacher. Allison was mistaken for a student, which caused the official to check her teaching credentials.

Allison was told she wasn’t qualified to teach at the junior high level.

Teaching wasn’t the only legacy Allison left behind. She often represented the local school district at meetings in other parts of the county.

After school was out for the day, she would drive to San Diego to serve on a number of committees for the County Board of Education. When she had to return to Ramona late at night, Allison wanted to be sure she would get home safely. "Bisher Truck Lines always came through (from San Diego to Ramona) at 11 o’clock," she said. "I always said I had to get out of meetings to get ahead of the truck. So if anything happened on the Mussey Grade, I knew the truck was coming." Allison enjoyed being with other teachers in Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional sorority for teachers. She was a charter member when the North County chapter was organized in 1948.

She served as president of the chapter and then was area director for San Diego County and Imperial County. She also was on the state scholarship board for the Sorority.

July 16, 1908 to December 24, 2003. Born in Tuscola, Ill. Survived by her sister, Marjorie Allison; and nephew, Bill Wright.