BENSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Forrest Watson credit's his passion for education to those who taught him growing up. Now, he's determined to have a positive impact on the next generation.
Watson's teaching career began in Colorado but the cold winters prompted the now 30-year-old and his family to move to Arizona. Prior to the 2022-2023 school year, Watson taught at Amphitheater High School in Tucson for four years. He decided to leave the classroom for an administrator role, which is how he landed at a Benson Primary School. Watson said he wanted to move into an administrator role because he wanted to have a larger impact at a school.
“I didn’t want to just have a relationship with students that I coached and the students I had in my classroom," he said. "I want to have relationships with students in the entire school."
For Watson, part of his passion for education comes from being able to work with kids every day and seeing their positive growth day in and day out.
"My view is that every student has potential to do great things and we as educators just need to find that potential,” he said.
As the assistant principal, Watson handles disciplinary issues, which is how he was meeting students. Watson said he realized there were a lot of good things happening at the school and there were a lot of students he wasn't meeting that were excelling in the classroom. That's when he came up with the idea to have the students read the morning announcements.
“Those disciplinary issues that come up, but I like using those as opportunities for the students to learn," Watson said. "Especially being at an elementary school, where kids are going to make mistakes. They’re young and they just need to learn from those mistakes.”
Each week two students from each grade level are chosen to be a part of the video. They are selected by their teacher based on their behavior and performance in the classroom. Now, Watson can't walk around campus without being asked by students when they can be on the video.
Max Homerski, a fourth grader at the school, was chosen for this week's video and says he doesn't get nervous being on camera.
“I like all the stuff (Mr. Watson) does," Homerski said. "I like how he does the morning announcements. They’re always super fun to be on and he always helps us grow as good students.”
Third-grade teacher Barbara Furnas said the incentive of being on the videos is causing students to better behave in the classroom because they want the opportunity to read the announcement. She also said Watson greets each of the students in the morning when allowing them through the school's gate with a smile and a high five. These small gestures are putting the students in the right mindset as they start their day.
Furnas said the positivity isn't just affecting the students but the staff as well.
“For staff, I think it’s pretty much a breath of fresh air to have him here because he also brings that out of the staff too— that positive impact,” she said.
Watson wants to continue to build relationships with the students, staff and Benson community. He says by having a relationship with them he can build trust and leave a positive impact he was to on the school and the students.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
