We are pleased to announce that Mr. Turner Watts will be joining Old Town Academy K-8 Charter School as our 7th Grade Teacher, replacing Ms. Rebecca Curry (our wonderful founding 7th Grade teacher who has helped make OTA Middle School the best in the city; but who is moving back East).
See below for Mr. Watts’s Bio.
Education: Mr. Watts earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Education from Shepherd University in West Virginia. He will begin work on a Master’s degree at San Diego State University this fall.
Recent Teaching Experience: Mr. Watts spent the current year teaching 8th grade English at a charter school in Los Angles, CA. He also experienced a wide variety of classrooms working as a substitute teacher in Baltimore, MD, his home town.
Hobbies: Hiking, camping, reading, cooking, travel, and writing.
Favorite Books/Things to Read: The newspaper, anything by Bill Bryson, anything by John Grisham (guilty pleasure), short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, historical works, favorite novel hands down: Herman Melville’s book on Captain Ahab and that white Whale!
Favorite Subject(s) in School: English and History.
US Navy Qualified Submariner Dolphins
Fun Fact: Mr. Watts was in the Navy for five years and worked on a nuclear powered submarine. He completed four six-month deployments and visited nearly a dozen countries during his time at sea. He says the OTA Projects Trees and Project Pass/Try Again checklists remind him of the “system mastery checklists” (qualification cards) submariners are given and asked to master before they earn the right to wear the Dolphins and stand a watch. Incoming 7th Graders–think your Project Checklists are difficult? Here’s what Mr Watts had to learn to earn his Dolphins!
- Indoctrination/Damage Control Phase:
- Internal Communication Circuits
- Sound Powered Phone Circuits
- Emergency Alarms
- Damage Control equipment location and proper utilization is stressed.
- Propulsion Phase
- Ship’s Propulsion Plant
- Electrical Plant Systems
- Primary and Auxiliary Propulsion Equipment
- Auxiliary Systems Phase
- Ship’s Main, Service and Plane Control Hydraulics Systems
- Potable water systems
- Ship’s Air Systems, Including High Pressure, Ship’s Service and Salvage Air Systems.
- Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
- Atmospheric Monitoring Systems
- Depth Sensing Systems
- Sea Water and Ballasting Systems
- Electronic Equipment and Navigation
- Electronic Sensor Monitoring Systems
- External Communications Systems
- Navigation Systems
- Combat Systems
- Torpedo and Tactical Missile Fire Control Systems
- Ballistic Missile Fire Control Systems (SSBN‘s only)
- Torpedo Tube Systems
- Sonar Systems
- External Countermeasure Systems and Launchers
“No one is exempted from the qualification process and no concessions are made to rank or rate…. Although submarine qualification methodology has changed throughout the decades the basic goal has remained:
- To provide the submarine sailor with a basic knowledge of all systems on board, their uses, operations, and interrelationships with other systems and
- To ensure all personnel can operate effectively under pressure in shipboard situations. Submarine damage control techniques are stressed throughout the qualification process.”
For more see: