Permian High School Assistant Principal Megan Watts could not escape becoming an educator.
Her parents are David and Denise Watts. David Watts was president of UTPB and Denise Watts was in institutional research. They now live in Richardson.
In education for 14 years, Megan Watts has been with Ector County ISD for nine years, including seven years as assistant principal at Permian and two as assistant principal at what was Bonham Junior High, now Bonham Middle School.
Being an assistant principal takes a lot of dedication and Watts’ persistence was recently rewarded with the ECISD Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year Award. She is one of eight APs at PHS.
“I was completely surprised; totally surprised,” Watts said of the recognition.
“There are so many assistant principals around the district working extremely hard and it is humbling to be recognized,” Watts said.
Receiving the honor makes her want to work harder, she said.
“It’s all about building momentum and building positive momentum. I want to come to work every day and know that when I leave I’ve done everything I can to help my parents and my students and my teachers be more successful and if they need anything (to) know that I’ve tried to provide that for them,” Watts said.
Watts began her teaching career at Northridge High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She moved back to the Odessa area and spent four years teaching at Lee High School.
“I took my first administrator job at ECISD at what is now Bonham Middle School,” Watts said.
She earned a bachelor of science degree, majoring in history and political science, and a master’s degree in education, both from the University of Montevallo in Alabama.
Watts said she grew up in a very academic oriented household.
“That’s just what everything always revolved around, what we did; conversations. I didn’t know that I was going to become a teacher until I started studying history. I found that I really enjoyed it and I had a knack for teaching others, so it just developed from there,” Watts said.
At Lee High School, she started working with some of the teachers in her department to get them to try some new activities and new ways to teach.
“I really enjoyed it when they felt successful and the students were successful, so I just started studying how to become an administrator and went from there. Their students were learning and they felt their classrooms were more successful.”
She said she wasn’t sure she wanted to leave the classroom, but going into administration was a natural progression.
“I enjoy it. I’ve kind of over the years at Permian been able to take on some of the areas that I enjoy, so it makes it even more worth it when we’re successful in those areas. It’s a lot about learning to be flexible and valuing the students and people that you work with; building their capacity.”
Megan has a brother, Bill, and two older twin sisters, Millie Watts and Alice Varnado.
“Ultimately, I’d like to be a principal in the district. I just have tried to spend my time learning everything that I can as an assistant principal, every facet of it so that when I do get the opportunity to become a principal I’ll be a little bit more versed than maybe others have been,” Watts said.
Secondary appeals to her more than elementary, although elementary is the foundation of learning.
“I’ve only ever taught secondary and I’ve only been an administrator. There’s something that can’t be beat about graduation day; just seeing them finally walk the stage and achieve what they’ve been working for, and especially when you’ve had them for four, sometimes five years, seeing them actually get across the stage and start their future is very exciting,” she added.
Permian Principal Delesa Styles nominated Watts for the award. She noted that Watts wears many hats and has gone above and beyond this year doing everything from coordinating proms to overseeing substitute teachers.
“Ms. Watts also oversees Attendance and Credit Recovery classes for students needing to make up attendance hours or complete online courses in order to receive credit. In addition to responsibilities mentioned above, Ms. Watt also serves as the administrative advisor for PHS’s cheerleader coaches. She is also assigned 500-plus students to monitor for attendance, grades, and discipline, and formally supervises and evaluates PHS teachers and clerks. Ms. Watts’ role at PHS is expansive! She is an integral part of the PHS administrative team and faculty,” Styles wrote.
