Bartholomew Area Retired Teachers Association Volunteer of the Year Sandy Watts is shown volunteering as a “schoolmarm” at the Simmons one-room schoolhouse in Hope.
Bartholomew Area Retired Teachers Association Volunteer of the Year Sandy Watts, second right, is shown in a family photo with, from left, daughter Jennifer Watts, husband Dave Watts, and son Michael Watts.
When her colleagues with the Bartholomew Area Retired Teachers Association reported that Sandy Watts had volunteered with 15 different school and community programs, she was surprised it was that many. But not terribly surprised.
“My husband kids me because he says I retired from all the paying jobs,” said Watts, who was selected as BARTA’s volunteer of the year, among the highlights of the retired teachers group’s annual report to the community.
Watts also seemed surprised for the recognition, despite donating close to 400 hours of volunteer service to the community last year. She said others in the retired teachers group are just as deserving.
“I’m not sure how I got picked,” she said. “It’s quite an honor.”
Watts taught at Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. for more than 35 years. She initially was hired on a temporary contract to teach at Smith Elementary just two weeks after graduating. She then was hired to teach fourth grade at Fodrea, then third grade at Taylorsville for 18 years. She then retired from Parkside in May 2015 after teaching third-graders there for 13 years.
“I couldn’t seem to pass third grade, and I never wanted to,” she said. She noted children at that age formed sweet and strong bonds. She fondly remembered how sometimes a student would slip and call her “mommy” before correcting themselves.
“Columbus has been a great city for us. We love Columbus,” she said, crediting her husband, Dave, for helping her with volunteer efforts. “If it weren’t for him, I couldn’t do everything I do.”
A sampling of those efforts includes volunteering at the historic Simmons Schoolhouse in Hope — occasionally in the one-room schoolhouse period role of “schoolmarm”, assisting with meal programs at First United Methodist Church, supplying lunches for children during times when school is out of session, helping with gardening and landscaping at Simmons and elsewhere, and serving students and teachers in numerous other ways.
She also has been active in Be SMART, which aims to prevent child gun deaths and injuries.
All her life, Watts wanted to be a teacher. Her father had been a school principal, and for as long as she can remember, she always was “embedded” in education, she said.
“I definitely feel like if there is any way I can support public schools, I need to support public schools,” she said.
