Mr. Watson’s Memorial a Celebration of Life

A memorial was held on February 18 in honor of David Watson, AP Physics teacher, in the TCS Upper Elementary Coliseum where people got to pay their respects.

Mr.Watson passed away suddenly on February 13th. The school decided to commemorate him through a memorial ceremony to have the closure needed for the school community. It was also a way to celebrate and acknowledge the life of Mr.Watson.

“For the school as community, the recognition is done with pleasure from the heart to tribute Mr. Watson; to celebrate his life,” Ana Garcia, High School Counselor, said.

A variety of speakers shared their stories of Mr.Watson’s life and the remarkable impact he had on the lives of everyone he met. Many members of the TCS family were honored to have him as teacher,  acknowledging his contributions to the school as a teacher and as a person.

“Very nice memorial in terms of representatives of different groups: current students, former students, teachers, parents and administration. They got to pay their respects to Mr.Watson and say a few things about him,” Bill Beauchamp, High School Science Department Chair, said.

A number of family members, friends, colleagues and students spoke. Pedro Velasquez, a Physics C student, close friend and colleague Bill Beauchamp, TCS Superintendent Ruth Allen and High School Principal Juan David Lopez, alumnus Gregorio Londoño; and a parent, Luz Gabriela Velez all shared memories of Mr. Watson’s dedication to education and his impact on the school, students and community.

“I think he would’ve liked it. It was very informative for a lot of people in terms of how well respected Mr. Watson was, how important he was for the school, how much his students cared about him, and how much he cared about the physics program,” Beauchamp said.

All of the speeches highlighted the appreciation people had for Mr.Watson. The memorial was streamed live for his mother and sister who couldn’t attend since one of them was in Germany and the other in Canada. The school received a letter of appreciation from the Watson family. This letter communicated how proud they were of Mr.Watson, and acknowledged how with the memorial they saw how important his job was and the impact he had on so many people..

“For him (Mr.Watson) the light was important, so from there we had some symbols of light. There was a big candle lit from the beginning of the ceremony,” said Garcia.

The ceremony had symbolic elements in tribute of Mr. Watson’s passions, which included nature, create a sense of closeness among the audience and help his memory endure. After every speech a candle was lit to show the light he left on each person’s life.

“We planted a tree in his honor, because it is life and this way we are celebrating life through life,” said Garcia.

The community wanted to commemorate his life, therefore they planted a tree. After the memorial attendees all left the coliseum to go near the new administration building to plant this tree in his honor. With this tree they gave him recognition and united him with nature which he loved.

“He would’ve definitely like it. It was everyone that cared about him, speaking about why they cared about him and why he was such a great person for them, “ said Pedro Velasquez, Physics C student, said.