Anne Watson (born 1981) is an American educator and politician who has served as Mayor of
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population ...
since March 2018. Watson is a physics teacher at
Montpelier High School. She served on the Montpelier city council for several years before running unopposed for mayor in late 2017.
In 2010, Watson launched an eventually successful campaign with the Vermont Youth Ultimate League to recognize
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...
as an official
varsity-level sport in Vermont's high schools.
In April 2018, Watson was named in a blog article on the
REI
Rei or REI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Rei, a story arc of the anime ''Higurashi When They Cry''
*Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious''
*Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Eva ...
website as one of "five of the coolest mountain-city mayors" in the United States.
In November 2018, Watson was named to Vermont Business Magazine’s rising star “40 under 40 list.”
Biography
Watson was born in
Essex, Vermont
Essex is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Vermont Route 289 crosses the town from east to west. The city of Essex Junction, population 10,590, was located within the town as an incorporated village until 2022.
History
The ...
. She received her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
mathematics, with a minor in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
, from
Penn State University in 2003.
[ Watson next enrolled at the ]University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
, where she completed a one-year master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
with a specialty in science.[
]
Teacher
Watson joined the faculty of Montpelier High School as a physics teacher in 2004.
Watson having completed 5 years fellowship became a Senior Fellow at the Knowles Teacher Initiative. In 2010 she received certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and became one of the 118,000 certified teachers in America. 3.3% of American teachers are board certified.
In 2015, Watson appeared before the State Education Committee to advocate for a plan in which students from China would spend a year in Montpelier, attending the local high school. She proposed that the students would be housed in the dormitories of the Vermont College of Fine Arts
Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...
. She received a Rowland Foundation Fellowship to further work on this proposal.
Coach and sports activist
Watson coaches Ultimate
Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album)
* ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album)
*''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds
*''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...
(once known as Ultimate Frisbee). Under her coaching, the Men's Ultimate team advanced to the Vermont finals five times from 2010 to 2017.
In 2010, Watson launched a campaign with the Vermont Youth Ultimate League to recognize Ultimate
Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album)
* ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album)
*''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds
*''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...
as an official varsity-level sport in Vermont's high schools. Watson, who had played Ultimate in college and coaches the sport at Montpelier High School, led a seven year state lobbying effort on behalf of the sport. Her efforts proved successful on November 3, 2017, when the Vermont Principals Association, which supervises the state's high school sports programs, unanimously approved Ultimate as a full varsity sport, beginning in the Spring 2019 season. The approval made Vermont the first state in the country to recognize Ultimate as a varsity sport. The approval ensures that players are not charged to participate, and that coaches are paid and provided with safety training.
Watson has been widely credited with Ultimate's landmark varsity recognition through her campaign.
Political career
Watson entered politics in 2012 when she was appointed to the vacant District 2 seat on the Montpelier City Council.[ She served three terms on the city council from 2012 until she left office to become mayor in 2018.][
On November 2, 2017, three-term incumbent Montpelier Mayor John Hollar announced that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term in the March 2018 mayoral election.] Watson, who was serving as President of the Montpelier City Council, announced her candidacy on November 6.
Watson campaigned on a platform with a focus on finances, infrastructure, the environment, and development.[ "Montpelier is a place where we have twice as many jobs as residents, and that's not even adjusting for job-age residents,” Watson says. “Many more people commute here to work than live here, and if we can make it more affordable and accessible for people to live here, it’ll help reduce carbon emissions. If we can enhance recreational options so they don't have to drive far to get to them, that will also help."][ Watson was elected on March 6, 2018.][
]
Publications
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Notes
Works cited
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External links
*Official website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Anne
American sports coaches
Educators from Vermont
American women educators
Living people
Mayors of Montpelier, Vermont
Eberly College of Science alumni
People from Essex, Vermont
Sports coaches from Vermont
Ultimate (sport) players
University of Vermont alumni
Vermont city council members
Women city councillors in Vermont
Women mayors of places in Vermont
1981 births
21st-century American women