This is Ms. Watts

Get to know Ms.Watts

Cristina Ramirez, Contributor

Ms. Watts is one of the many new teachers here at SMHS. She teaches Geometry and Algebra. She taught at Arroyo Grande High School before coming here. She graduated from UC Berkeley; her original major was math.
Ms. Watts likes to go hiking, walking at the beach, spending time with her kids, playing board games with them, etc. She also likes to go to comedy shows and concerts.
Luckily, Ms. Watts lives next to the beach, so when quarantine hit, she just walked down to the beach with her kids every day because she said that it was outside, and they didn’t have to worry about anything. Staying at home was hard for her and her family, but they spent their time in quarantine as a family. They also watched a lot of Netflix.
Ms. Watts said she would be an orange if she was a fruit because, “you got a solid exterior, like you’re holding it all together one way on the outside but on the inside, it’s a little sour, it’s a little sweet, it’s a little soft, just made of different things that are complex. Like all different pieces fit together to create the whole. So, like an orange has the slices, the membrane, the juice, all the things that make up an orange but, on the inside, and on the outside, it’s how it presents itself to the world.”
She has 3 boys: her youngest is 11, one who 16, and oldest is 18. The oldest started college but all of her boys are best friends. They don’t fight a lot and they really support Ms. Watts because she is divorced. When her ex left, the boys really helped her. One thing that she is passionate about is her family.
She loves the community here at Santa Maria in general. One thing she loves is that the students are kind and respectful and she can see the students appreciate being back at school over being stuck at home. She also likes that the teachers all work together; she sees more teachers working together here than at any other school she’s worked. She sees in other schools, when a teacher creates an assignment, the teacher keeps it for themselves, but here, if someone makes something, they will share with everyone else so that everyone can use it, kind of like the teachers share the workload, making it easier. She isn’t sure she would have survived teaching during quarantine without the support of the other math teachers.
Right now, Ms. Watts is still getting used to things so she can’t really add anything to help the school. When things clam down for her, she would like to be an adviser for one of the clubs because she likes to be a supporter for students. This is one of the reasons she got into teaching.
Mrs. Watts has traveled to Nicaragua, Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, and all over the United States. Her favorite place to visit is the Northern California Red Woods. It’s her favorite place because of the big trees, when she walks the path and when she looks up, when she sees the trees, it comforts her to be around nature. She loves to hear the forest since there is nothing else there when all you hear is nature. She also loves the fern canyons in the redwoods
One of her favorite movies is Harry Potter but she prefers the books rather than the movie. She loves the message and kind of escaping to the world of Harry Potter because it takes her mind off things about everything that is going on; she listens to the audio books all the time. She also likes Star Wars, any kind of Avengers, anything that is Sci-Fi related. She likes all types of music, but it all depends on her mood, but she thinks that lyrics of the music is really important and if she also likes the beat of the music, then she would like it. She doesn’t like music that has too much screaming; a little screaming is fine for her though. Her favorite food depends on her mood; she likes pizza, tacos, then sometimes she would want a big salad.
If Ms. Watts wasn’t a teacher, she said that she would be a mom. She has always wanted to be a teacher of some sort, but she knew that she was going to be a be a math teacher when she got into high school.
One tip that she has for her students who are planning to go to college is, “to look at all the options. Make sure that’s what you want to do, your school supports that.” She went to Berkeley to study math, but it didn’t prepare her for how to teach. She would have chosen a different school if she had the chance that focuses more on teaching. She also said, “you have to make sure that the school you choose has the program that supports what you want to do when you’re done.”
One life tip Ms. Watts gives is, “enjoy it.” She said, “So, even if it’s something you don’t like, there’s got to be some way to make it positive. So, find the joy in everything you do.”