In addition to mentoring cheerleaders, Loretta Watson is credited with helping to raise SOL scores among the students she teaches. Guiding the girls was Loretta Watson, the coach of the cheer team. Watson sees a lot of herself in the students she’s been coaching for the last 30 years. She said a lot of the students attending MLK Middle come from similar public housing communities as her, like Mosby, Whitcomb and Fairfield courts. One of those girls includes Watkins, who Watson taught in science before encouraging her to join the cheer team.