Bloomfield Hills' Hugh Watters Named Oakland County Middle School Teacher of the Year

When administration of Bloomfield Hills and Oakland County schools knocked at the door of science teacher Hugh Watters'  classroom this afternoon, he wasn’t expecting it at all.

In fact, he was preparing his eighth-grade students for a test Friday.

That’s when the flood of colleagues came into his classroom with a handful of balloons and smiling faces to tell him he has been named the Oakland County Outstanding Middle School Teacher of the Year.

“I saw all the balloons and thought it was someone’s birthday,” Watters said, laughing. “I didn’t think it was for me! I had no idea.”

The top-secret surprise included a $2,000 grant from HAP through the Oakland Schools Education Foundation and the honor of being selected from a pool of 16 middle school nominees by a committee of local education and community representatives.

Watters came out on top in six areas that were evaluated: engaging students, meeting individual needs of students, demonstrating knowledge of subject area, demonstrating classroom management, relating to parents and colleagues, demonstrating citizenship and leadership in the school community and support statements from colleagues, parents and students.
 
It was a surprise for most of his students, too, who cheered him on and gathered for a group photo during the announcement. There were, however, three students who sat with the secret for an excruciating hour and a half.

“It was so hard to keep the secret!” Nick Lucci told Watters during the photo op afterward.  

Lucci, along with classmates Adam Kobeissi and Jenny Ruan, got the chance to talk about why their teacher really deserves this honor during a video filming for the school district. Lucci said that from the first day of school, Watters' class was a welcoming one, with animals lining the back of the room and storytelling during lectures.

“His room pulls me in and his teaching pulls students in,” he said. “You can tell he’s always trying and always cares about us. He’s compassionate with us.”

Kobeissi said he’d describe his teacher as “knowledgeable, outgoing and passionate about his career.”

Ruan said she’ll remember him for the time he mysteriously set a ramp on fire during a science experiment. “He’s a cool teacher,” she said.

Watters is from South Lyon and began his teaching career in 1990. Along with the high school and elementary school winners, he will be honored at an event at Oakland Schools on May 10.  

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