Lisa Penn was all set to teach fourth, fifth and sixth grade math when the former Guy Benjamin School teacher started the school year at the Julius E. Sprauve School. However, the transfer of students from the recently closed Guy Benjamin meant that Sprauve again needed an assistant principal, and she was tapped for the job.
“As assistant principal, I do anything to make the principal’s job easier,” she said, adding that her focus is on instruction.
Penn, 49, said she decided to accept the job so there would be someone from St. John in the post. She plans to retire in three years, and anticipates that by then a younger St. John resident will be ready to fill her shoes.
Born at what was then called St. Thomas Hospital to St. John parents, she attended the same school where she now serves as assistant principal. She then headed off to Charlotte Amalie High School on St. Thomas.
With a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in administration and supervision, both earned at the University of the Virgin Islands the from she had the credentials for the assistant principal’s job.
As an undergraduate at UVI, she said she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do for her career. She finally realized she enjoyed being around children, and that was the catalyst that helped her make up her mind for a career in education.
After graduation, she taught for three years at Lockhart Elementary School on St. Thomas, making the trek from St. John every day. She then landed a job at Guy Benjamin, where she taught for 27 years. During some of that time, her mother, Gwenavire Hyndman, was the principal.
“I always had the toughest treatment because I was her daughter,” she said.
And she has direct ties to the man whose name graces the school where she now works. Julius E. Sprauve, a former senator who died in 1965, was her great-great-grandfather.
After three decades in the front of a classroom, Penn remains passionate about her career.
“I like working with children, and the joy of seeing their little faces light up when they get something,” she said.
She said she’s had success even with students who just didn’t like school. Penn said some went on to college and others found productive work.
According to Penn, taking a personal interest in her students is key.
“Once you realize you care about them, you get almost anything out of them,” she said.
There are challenges in being a teacher, she said. For starters, the school curriculum lends itself to a one-size-fits-all approach. Penn said that some children need a more individualized approach.
Sprauve School also has its own challenges, Penn said. The new Common Core curriculum is one of them, but she said the teachers are a cooperative group and are helping each other. She said the school has its full complement of staff and the community is generous with its support, which she said are both big helps.
There are also challenges in keeping children interested and focused.
“There are so many distractions and so many kinds of entertainment,” she said.
It was much different when she was growing up on St. John. She said everyone knew everyone else, and reported to parents if they caught a child doing something they shouldn’t do.
“The village raised the child,” she said.
Penn met her husband, Andrew Penn Sr., in that village. The two knew each other as children but it wasn’t until they were out of college that they connected. They got married in 1992, and are the parents of three children. Kamaria is 23, Andrew Jr., 19, and Shane, 17.
Over the years, she’s been involved in many St. John activities. She had a 4-H group, was active in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and as Lisa Abramson was Miss St. John in 1981. She’s now involved with the Love City Leapers jump rope group and participates in Bethany Moravian Church activities.
“I mostly spend time with my family,” Penn said.
