She danced in Spain under the name Helena Alonso -- but she didn't know a lick of Spanish. Today Lynn Paisley teaches Spanish and journalism at MAST Academy.

Lynn Paisley

1978 English Literature

Coral Gables Senior High

Q: What do you think put you tops in the Silver Knight judges' eyes?

A: My essay was a bit different than what they expected.

One of the things we'd done is go to an old-folks home where I was assigned to Mr. Potter in his dismal room. I wrote about that in my essay, and I remember writing that I'd hoped that if I were to go back there, that he'd have passed away because he was tormented there. My mother told me I was committing political suicide.

Q: What led you to teach?

A: When I was a kid I always wanted to be a teacher. My real mentor was my English teacher, Jenny Oren-Krugman, and anyone she touched was marked for life.

Q: Tell us about your life's path.

A: After high school I had a merit scholarship at the University of Miami, and I ended up dropping out. I was in the middle of a writing seminar with Isaac Singer and went off to study flamenco in Madrid. I took my little sister and ex-girlfriend with me. I would go back and forth for four to five months at a time for eight years. I didn't speak any Spanish when I went over, and I ended up touring with this group in South America and took with me all of Garcia Marquez's work. Since I had already read some of it in English, I was able to figure out everything he was saying.

We went to Colombia, Panama, Peru. We were like the Flamenco Go-Go girls. Nobody else spoke English in the group.

Eventually I came back to Miami, and my ex and I started up Ballet Flamenco La Rosa. Then when we split up I left the company and I got tired of dancing.

Q: Have you taken part in the Silver Knight selection?

A: I was the school's Silver Knight sponsor. It's cool to see what they're doing, to see a girl work in orphanages in Africa or a kid that worked for hours and hours with the Coast Guard doing search and rescue. It's particularly exciting to see high school kids getting to do these sorts of things.

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