From Texas Longhorns to Norwood Mustangs

Ms. Pennington is NHS’s newest physical science and honors physics teacher.  

Ms. Pennington was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Europe, specifically Scotland and Switzerland, and graduated from the University of Edinburgh, which is located in Scotland, with a bachelor's in Anatomical Sciences. She received her master's degree at the University of Texas located in Austin. She has only lived in Westwood, Massachusetts for a year. 

She decided to move here for “a change in climate...It’s beautiful, and I want my children to experience that. We didn’t have seasons in Texas” she said. 

This is her eighteenth year teaching after teaching in Texas for seventeen years. She taught everything from science camps for young children to advanced physics for seniors. 

“I have always loved science. I’ve always had that curiosity” she said.

Pennington said that part of her motivation to teach came from feeling overlooked as a student herself.

“Male teachers who would often ignore me, because I was a female in a predominantly male class, and it drew me harder to succeed.” 

Ms. Pennington wants to empower her students, specifically female students. 

"I want them to come to me and know, yeah, we can do this too.” 

She says she wanted to be a science teacher because “Physics is seen as a very complicated subject, and I found my superpower was breaking it down into easily understood components.” 

This year, Ms. Pennington says she’s looking forward to going out to support her students at their games, shows, or anything they participate in. 

She is also “looking forward to experiencing being back in the classroom with students and getting them excited about learning again.” 

“Some educators have forgotten we haven’t had a normal school year in a couple of years. When you say here’s a test, here’s a quiz- it can be anxiety-inducing.”