Niwot High School Teacher of the Month Jason Watkins

The Left Hand Valley Courier is introducing a new Teacher of the Month feature chosen by students. Teachers are chosen based on their positive impact on their students, staff, and surrounding community.

Jason Watkins is Niwot High School's March Teacher of the Month because of his consistently positive impact on his students, the staff, and the community. Watkins teaches technical theater, CTE, jewelry, photography, and video making at NHS and is a founding member of the Colorado Association of Technical Theatre Educators.

Watkins studied photography at CU Boulder and then decided to become a teacher when the profession was recommended to him by his then-girlfriend. From 1996 to 1997, he first observed and then did his student-teaching at Niwot High School under teacher Bill Roach. Watkins said he immediately loved it.

While student teaching, Roach told Watkins of his plans to retire. Roach told Watkins that if he stayed and student-taught, after Roach retired, Watkins would be able to secure a teaching position at NHS. Watkins recalls that he still had to apply and interview for the position despite Roach's offer.

In August of 1997, Watkins was hired to teach art at Niwot High School, and he has been there ever since. After his first year of teaching art classes, the technical theater teacher at the time left, and Watkins jumped at the opportunity to replace him. At the time, his only technical theater experience was painting a set in high school. His first year teaching technical theater was, as he put it, "A ginormous learning curve."

Watkins said, "It doesn't feel like 25 years. I remember being scared, [and experiencing] imposter syndrome." His fear has now been replaced with confidence. He knows that no matter what the problem might be, he can figure out the solution and he is not afraid of failure. He instills the same attributes in his students.

Watkins loves to spend time with his wife, two dogs, and his son outside of school. He also enjoys hiking, watching all kinds of sci-fi movies, and spending time in his art studio, where he paints miniatures. His miniatures can be found here (https://www.flickr.com/people/grendels_lair/).

Some of Watkins' favorite technical theater productions include "The Diary of Anne Frank," "She Kills Monsters," and "Clue." One of his favorite memories was receiving the Bobby G High School Musical Theatre award for Set Design last year.

Watkins teaches his students the acronym YOGOWYPI, pronounced yo-go-wip-ee, which stands for "You Only Get Out What You Put In." He not only lives by the acronym but teaches it to his students, which is one of the many reasons why Watkins is such an amazing teacher. Amanda Foust, Niwot High School drama teacher, agrees and said, "He is my only saving grace. He is the only thing that keeps my head above water."