My Name is… Nava Coppin.

I am a “no nonsense”, “let’s get it done” type person but at the same time very fun, loving, and compassionate. I’m sure if you would ask my students and colleagues to describe me, they would say the exact thing. I love being me and I love others being who they are.

You are reading about me because… I recently became an assistant principal at River Road Middle School after teaching there for seven years. What makes this promotion most interesting is that I initially didn’t apply for the job. I‘d obtained my administrator’s degree almost two years ago but in my mind, I was going to wait until my children got older before I pursued the change. Even more interesting than that, I would converse with my colleagues on who they thought would be the best fit. Little did I know, they were thinking, ME, Mrs. Coppin! Thereafter, my colleagues would email, text, or call to encourage me to apply. After so many calls, I decided to apply. Long story short; had interview, took administrator’s test, waited a week and the superintendent called and asked, “Mrs. Coppin, are you ready to come to work?” I was SPEECHLESS! Oh, and I accepted the position.

Right now I’m working on… my acting skills. I have a family of seven brothers and two sisters. (Yes, we have the same father and mother). God has blessed each of us with multiple talents and we plan to become the first family of the stage. My younger brother, Abel, writes gospel plays and the rest of us are the musicians, actors, and actresses. We have readings and practice every week. We have performed four plays thus far in our hometown. Our next performance will be a live recording of our most recent play, “My Father’s Hand.”

But if I wasn’t, I’d be… at church teaching reading or math to students in the community, or I’d be home cooking, washing clothes, braiding hair, completing homework, and playing Kinect, all at the same time! Go figure.

One thing I do every day is… tell my husband and my children I love them! To hear them say they love me back is the greatest feeling ever.

I can’t stand when people… complain about being stagnant on a job when they get to work late, leave early, never volunteer, and does only what is required, nothing more. You will ALWAYS be stagnant!! Ok, I’ve vented and I feel that much better.

But I love it when people… uplift others even when they are in distress.

If you happen to run into me on the street… remind me that I’m blessed and there’s nothing anyone can do about it!

The best advice I ever received was… from my father. “Always stand up for what’s right because only “right” will prevail.”

If I had to coin it, my message would be… ”We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill~

My future plans and projects include. writing a book for parents. I have not come up with a name yet but it will stress the importance of parental involvement in education. It is just amazing how bad students want their parents involved in every aspect of their lives. I hope to be a lead principal in the next two years. After that experience, I am interested in opening my own charter school.

Big Ups to… my father and mother, Ernest and Valeria Sutton. With the help of God, they did an awesome job with their children. Eight graduated from college and all ten have great careers. The best gift they gave us was the gift of love. We are each other’s best friend.

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Nava Coppin is a graduate of Elizabeth City State University.