Allayne Woods will not be forgotten because she was special and had a huge impact on students’ lives.
Woods taught English Language Arts at East English Village Preparatory Academy for the past five years. She was a dedicated teacher who went above and beyond her job description. Woods often encouraged students to reach their full potential and often provided rigorous tutorials in SAT and ACT Tests. She died of cancer on Dec. 18, 2016.
East English Village senior Nikolas Huey said Woods truly cared about her students.
“She inspired me to write an essay which I won a scholarship to travel abroad to Italy,” Huey said. Huey was one of two finalists of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation. As a finalists, he participated in a month-long academic program based in Florence, Italy, over the past summer.
Woods attended and graduated from Detroit Public Schools. She earned both a bachelor's degree in journalism and master's degree in education from Wayne State University. Woods spent the early life her of career as a successful advertising and marketing specialist for several major newspapers including the Oakland Press and the Detroit Free Press.
“Woods went beyond teaching, she used her brilliant mind to cultivate, nurture and expand horizons,” said Brenda J. Nimocks, a health teacher at East English Village.
She said crossed paths with Woods at various stages in life.
“I worked with Woods' father, who was a well-known pharmacist in the neighborhood and was familiar with many of her family members,” Nimocks said.
Nimocks said she was elated when Woods was also a teacher at EEVPA.
“It was a pleasure working with Woods," she said. "She was a rare jewel and treasure in the teaching community. It has been an honor to have been acquainted with her."
