Lisa Mclean: Teacher, cheerleader, mother

SHE’S optimistic, creative, free-spirited; a kid at heart who is dedicated to shaping young minds.

Born and raised in St Andrew, Lisa McLean, 39, left the University of the West Indies (UWI) in 1993 with the intention of returning to study law. But after spending a year under the mentorship of the kindergarten teacher at Immaculate Conception Preparatory School, she fell in love working with children and has never looked back.

“I left UWI with a degree in history and had every intention of studying law, because history was a great stepping stone. Immaculate Prep is also my childhood school, which had a tremendous influence on my life. When my parents were going through a very tumultuous divorce when I was younger, they created a wonderful haven for me there and in returning to it, it felt like home — comfortable,” McLean said.

“The teacher I worked with was excellent, the grounding I received was thorough and it prepared me for the field of education. This was something that I always had an interest in,” she said.

And so McLean, who’s been a middle school teacher at the American International School of Kingston (AISK) for the past six years, journeyed to the University of Toronto to complete her bachelor’s in education and the University of South Florida, where she completed a master’s in education.

At AISK, McLean, also a past student of Immaculate Conception High, currently teaches math and public health to children between the ages of 11 to 13. She’s also a cheerleader for her junior students whom she trains to compete in the Math Olympiad, which is an international mathematics competition put on by UWI with the aim of creating a national team of four to go to Mexico and compete. From the competition, the high school students from AISK walked away with two gold medals and McLean’s juniors are on to the semi-finals.

“You have to do a lot of cheerleading. It’s not football, so you have to get the children interested in competing for what’s not a competitive sport and let them know that math can be interesting too, and most of all it’s a community/group effort,” she said.

Where math is concerned, McLean said apart from cheering on her students, she ensures that they understand the concepts they’re learning and maintains open lines of communication for her students.

“I do a lot of problem solving and discovery. If they work through it and get their hands dirty, the information sticks,” McLean said.

What she loves most about the classroom is the jovial spirit her students carry and their eagerness to participate in circle time — an introspection activity which takes place at the start of her classes.

“They really enjoy it because we examine different aspects of our lives and share openly things our classmates might not know. What attitudes or qualities can we work on? We can be really judgemental, and we like to point out the flaws in others, but if we work on ourselves and our qualities, people will meet us with the same qualities we give off,” she said.

“If we want the world to be a better place, we must be better.”

McLean said she also enjoys seeing children realise their dreams.

“I love to see students come into their own. There was one who wanted to be a neurosurgeon, and heading into sixth form she said, ‘Ms Mclean, I hope you’re not upset that I don’t want to study neuroscience again. I’m going to study finance’. I’m glad she was able to come into her own as a young woman who was settled and really focused on her academics,” she said.

A mother of one, McLean is also a professional dancer who uses that aspect of her life as an escape from the bustle of daily activities.

“I’ve been dancing ballet from I was four and I’m part of the Company Dance Theatre since I was at university. I took a break to raise my son who’s now 15. I started dancing again three years ago and it’s a necessary stress relief which I use to step away and re-energise. It’s a very good opportunity to be expressive and it comes with a range of emotions. You speak to the audience.”

She also enjoys reading and painting, and views the arts as an energising field.

As for time management, McLean said it is not difficult.

“It’s easy to balance when the desire is there. When you have a number of things on your plate it forces you to become more organised and efficient with your use of time,” she said.

McLean is also passionate about women owning who they are and embracing the deep emotions that are unique to being female.

“I embrace my femininity and I embrace the deep emotions that women are blessed with having. The natural way in which nurturing comes to me and wanting to care for and look after others’ welfare should be embraced. With time we downplay the values of these attributes, but we shouldn’t. Women should feel free to be authentic, to choose being a mom, to choose being a nurturer. However you define being a woman, own it, embrace it, be confident about it, but don’t apologise for it.”

She added: “Motherhood doesn’t come with a manual and I have enjoyed every aspect of it. It’s important as mothers that we know our children and are there for them,” she said.

McLean is also a strong believer in going after your goals and using every opportunity as a learning experience.

“I don’t believe in giving up. I’m always open to learning and I’m open to life. Just keep moving forward,” she said.