Endorsements 2012

1. Endorsements 2012

2. Hey there mr.watts :) Just wanted to send you an email thanking you for kicking our asses so hard in biology. The other day I was sitting in my molecular/cellular biology lecture and we were talking about lipids and carbohydrates, I was amazed at the fact that I didnt even have to think about the questions, I just answered them. And what seemed simple to me, condensation reaction produces water, other people actually couldn't figure out. One funny thing is that your emphasis on the reaction between bicarbonate and water etc, actually has helped in almost every class, bio, chem, anatomy. We had an entire lecture in Chem about how that reaction affects and regulates our blood pH. I only wish that all of the other 4U teachers were required to set up their classes like you did. And if any of your current students think you're hard... Just you wait for first year... Try 4U biology times 5 different classes and condensed into 4 months. It's more than I could have ever expected. Anyways, thankyou so much for your dedication and all the work and annoyance you devoted into my years learning from you. :) I hope your classes this year are awesome !!! *#@$*#@$ *#@$*#@$*#:) Jan 18, 2012

3. Endorsements 2010

4. Hello Mr Watts! Howe are you? This is *X/?**#@ (I was in your class last year) and I would love to contribute to your Biology SBI4U Endorsement.I just finished my first round of midterms and I am now getting ready for my second round of midterms. It has been a hectic year so far with school, clubs andvolunteering, but I managed. I just wanted to take some time to thank you and write about how well your biology class prepared me for my first year of university at McMaster University. In the past school year, I met a lot of students with different educational background such as IB and AP. However, it was astonishing to find that I was better prepared than most students in my Biology and Chemistry courses so far. I am glad to say that my transition from high school to university was not that hard because I attended Hill Park Secondary School. I obtained one of the highest marks in my first semester biology and chemistry classes, as well as an 88.33% average for my first semester of university. I also got invited to the President's Award Ceremony at McMaster University, which was pretty awesome. Your class, Biology SBI3U and SBI4U allowed me to develop good time management skills and work ethics. I appreciate the content that we learn in your biology course as well as how the course is taught because the format was very similar to university. Thank you Mr Watts for being a cool and awesome teacher! Feb 28, 2010

5. Endorsements 2009

6. September 2009 Hello Mr. Watts! Sorry I haven't replied back to you sooner its been a busy ummer. I've been roofing as a summer job to pay for school so ithas been rough. YES! I am enrolled at mcmaster in the bachelors oftechnology program and my field is biotechnological engineering. It isa brand new degree/diploma program offered by mcmaster and inco-operation with mohawk. My class is the very first of the newbiotechnology program. We have the brand new building that has beenbuilt in front of Mac. I'm now going into my second year. Last year first semester I was actually top of biotech with a 9 GPA...it did drop in my last semester however so I ended with a 7.2 GPA. Please make sure to tell Mr. Robinson, thank you, without his grade 12 physics class I definitely would not have passed with a 9 GP in first year physics. You will be glad to know that you taught me well in biology. I was more then prepared for first year biology, not only was it my highest mark, I was top in my class with an 11 GP! Thank you! I look forward to this year as we are now splitting from the other sections of B.Tech and focussing more on biology (biotechnology, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, and microbiology). I look forward to hearing from you again and wish you the best of luck with the new flock in the upcoming school year. Sincerely,

7. June 2009 Hey sir i just wanted to say thanks for everything when mr heart said you were the best @ this school he wasnt kidding :) you really always do do your best and its greatly appreciated, even if it didnt seem like it thanks so much! take care and enjoy ur summer :)

8. January 2009 I’ve been a student for 13 years, never have I been asked to share my opinion about a school? Well my last 2 years in high school were the best years of my life. I moved to Canada 3 years ago and went to Hill Park high school. Now I have graduated from high school and starting University at McMaster University. When I got a tour of the university I was astonished and overwhelmed at the same time, it was a completely new environment. It was a big step for me, it was totally different from high school. In high school, teachers would take attendance, help you if u need help, advice you when possible. In University no Professor knows you, you’re in a class of 500 people, Big change from a class of 20 to a class of 500. The main point is that when it came to the category of studying at university I was prepared. My teachers in grade 12, Mr. Watts, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Potvin, and Mrs. Ramson, have been a great help in my success in university. They dedicated there time to help there students succeed and thrive for their goal, they pushed us to the limit were they know we will achieve our goal in life. Without them I would not be in university and in fact would not be writing this letter. Thank you hillpark for the preparation you have given me and I hope many students, realize this n the future, that it was them who gave them this opportunity.

9. Endorsements 2007

10. January 2007 Hi, My name is Sara Cormier and I am a recent graduate of Hill Park. Currently I am studying science at McMaster University. During my grade 12 year at Hill Park I completed a co-op position at Dr. Tang’s lab in St. Joseph’s hospital. This position is still available to students at Hill Park. For me, this co-op was instrumental in helping me with which program to choose at university. I encourage anyone who is considering a career in the sciences, specifically biology/chemistry or even medicine to take advantage of the opportunity to be a member of Dr. Tang’s lab. Dr. Tang’s lab is truly a hands on laboratory experience that very few (if any) high schools are able to offer their students. The amount of responsibility that I was given in carrying out various experiments was much more than I had expected. I was given the opportunity to participate in various tasks including DNA gels (which you may have seen in Mr. Watt’s gr. 12 bio class), I learned how to handle different chemicals, used different complex machinery and learned procedures to carry out various experiments. Dr. Tang is an amazing supervisor in that he really helps in explaining complex concepts and theories behind experiments being carried out. However, be warned that this co-op position is not designed for the student who wants a co-op position to ease work load. Each day is different, and this is NOT a co-op where you will be performing the same, dry procedures day after day. It is a great learning experience, and is truly interesting; I highly recommend it! Thanks and good luck! - Sara Cormier P.S. As a side note, if you are currently in Mr. Watts’ bio class, and are finding it difficult, you are not alone. If you are successful in his class, you should have very little problem with first year university biology (or at least this was my experience), he prepares you very well.

11. October 2004 Mr. Watts, The one message that I would like to pass on to your grade 12 students is not to get overwhelmed. There was lots to know for your class and lots of assignments, and I remember actually getting mad at you ( just in the beginning ) because I thought well why is Mr. Watts giving us all these weekly assignments on top of all the reading and chapter questions, as well as our other classes. I can honestly say that because of all the work and deadlines we had to meet in your class and  not being reminded to hand stuff in has saved me so much stress now, it also has made me an independent student. All you think about your whole grade 12 year is I better do well to get in to university, trying to manage school with all that pressure can be very difficult. Your slides instead of notes can be very intimidating for some students but if they are university bound they mite as well pick up the habit of making their own notes now. At the time students don't know what to expect from University and they don't realize that your style of teaching is really preparing them. So tell the grade 12's that your not trying to make it hard for them to do well, you are only trying to prepare them for next year. If they keep up in your class I'm sure they won't have a problem adjusting to college/university. They will appreciate it so much next year!!. . .k thats a long msg but you can shorten it up! Thanks ******

12. October 2004 Dear Mr Watts,    I just thought I would send you a quick note to thank you for preparing me for university biology so well. Most of the students at HP were scared to have you as a teacher because of your work load and high expectations. I spent many nights stressing over assignments and unit tests in SBI4U, but now I can admit the difficulty was well worth it.  I remember you putting up a letter like this on the overhead during one of my SBI4U classes and thinking "yeah right! Mr. Watts is sooo hard and I'm not going to get a good mark in high school bio, therefore I won't even get into univeristy". I can assure you that we (Hill Park students) are much more knowlegable and prepared going into university. University bio may be extremely hard but I feel like I have a better foundation than most students in my class thanks to your teachings. I am currently at ******* taking a concurrent double major program in Health Science and Business Administration and hoping to fit in a minor in genetics. So, thanks again for making my transition from high school to university much smoother.                                                                                 ****** *****                                                                                 *******@***.**

13. October 2004 Hello Mr Watts. . .sorry it took so long to write back, I have been extremely busy and overwhelmed with work. The grade 12 biology program has prepared me so much for Nursing. Everything from action potentials, amino acids, DNA replication etc has been a major help so far!! I have practically pulled apart last years biology notes to use them in Anatomy and Physiology, as well as Biochemistry. ******* and I were taking about how your slides made us more independent learners which is really helpful for our lectures. Also, posting homework, assignments, reviews and notes on the internet has helped to get us in the habit of checking online. . .because everything in University is online. I wouldn't change anything about the grade 12 biology course. I'm learning about DNA replication in Biochemistry and it feels like such a review. . .I feel like I know way more about it than what is just in lectures. I almost feel like an expert!  The detail that we learned last year is really helping, I am able to spend more time on new material! thanks ******

14. September 2004 hi there, i see you're on the cover of a magazine! That’s exciting! i wanted to say how well your course prepared me for university, with time management, study habits and understanding lectures, and thank you for that. thanks for your time. I'll keep in touch. ***** *******

15. September 2004 Hey Mr. Watts, it's ******* ****** from your grade 12 bio class last year.  I'm emailing to tell you about some of the courses that I'm taking, you're probably interested in how they're set up. The lectures for my Human Biochemistry class are all on CD-ROM because there is no room for our class to go for lectures (too big of a class).  More than half of the material that's covered in the course I learned in your grade 12 bio class and because the class is geared towards nursing, I don't have to memorize everything.  I just have to get a general understanding so that I can relate the info to reality in my case studys'.  Basically, the biochem class is pretty easy.  In the psych class that I'm in, we're learning about action potentials!!  The hardest class that I have to take is the Human Anatomy and Physiology class.  The class average last year was 43%.  The text book is over 1000 pages long and the readings for just the first week covered most of the grade 12 bio course!  The text book is so detailed and complex! That's probably why so many people failed last year and because the majority of the students were first year nursing students.  The heath science students don't have to take that course until their second year! Well, those courses (plus Gerontology and obviously Nursing) are the courses I'm taking first year.  I'm enjoying it so far, and since the terms are so short (10 weeks left), the first year is going to go by fast.  I'll see you at the Grad Ceremony back at HillPark.  Bye.

16. December 2003 I just wanted to thank you for preparing your students, more than any other teacher or class, for university learning. The material and depth you taught very much reflects what my first year bio class emphasizes. I just wanted to let you know that and again thank you very much for being such great teacher that you are (even tho most kids think your the 'hard' teacher- i think its beneficial in the long run) P.s ??????? thinks this 2! Happy Holidays and Best wishes in the new year.