Cynthia Watson
Cynthia Watson
EdD, Urban Education Leadership
2024 Dean's Merit Award
"I knew I was going to be a teacher since I was a young kid. We used to play school, and I always had to be the teacher," said Cynthia Watson. "In my junior year of high school, I had a teacher who taught contemporary U.S. history, and he was such a great teacher. That's when I decided to become a history teacher."
Watson was selected to be a part of the selective Golden Apple Scholar program, which supported her as she obtained her undergraduate degree.
After graduation, she taught second grade in Indianapolis through Teach for America, and then moved back to Chicago, where she taught for another six years.
She had never considered becoming a principal during her early years of teaching. "There were so many things that the students wanted to do and so many ideas that they had, and they just had me so excited," said Watson.
She would bring these exciting ideas to the principal, but then found that, often, the ideas would stop there.
"At that point, I wanted to be a school leader. I wanted to give students a platform to see these ideas come to fruition and make change with all their ideas," said Watson.
This goal of empowering students moved Watson to pursue a doctoral degree at UIC. Her EdD coach, Lionel Allen, said Watson has focused on supporting others as she has developed into a school leader, which is part of what makes her exceptional.
"She represents the best of us, the fearless side of us, the relentlessness in us, the will and the desire in us,” Allen said. “She jumps into the adversity headfirst, with a smile."
Watson is now the Director of School Improvement for Champaign Unit 4 School District where she collaborates with school leaders to see their ideas come to fruition.
Watson has impressed the doctoral program faculty during her time at the college. Her capstone was focused on improving academic and SEL success for Black male students. She has even bigger plans as she seeks to use the skills and knowledge she has gained. One day, she hopes to be the U.S. Secretary of Education.