Charles “Chuck” Ott graduated from SHS in 1963. For four years, SHS was the center of his life. He was thrilled to earn a varsity letter in cross country, the closest he ever came to athletic heroism. Later in life, he completed the Casco Bay Marathon in 2 hours and 46 minutes and hopes that will be engraved on his tombstone.
Following his time at Southport, Chuck attended Indiana University as a work/study student, washed a lot of dishes, earned an Arthur R. Metz scholarship, ran for student body president, and graduated in 1967. That same year Chuck and his wife, Ann Byrd, were accepted into the U.S. Peace Corps and served two years in Sierra Leone.
In 1969, Chuck suffered an emotional/mental breakdown and was placed in a psychiatric hospital. He describes it as a harrowing and deeply humiliating period in his life. Chuck attributes his slow rehabilitation to the spirit of Christ, as he understands Christ. He also thanks his kind doctors, his patient wife, and his faithful friends.
Chuck and Ann moved to New England in the fall of 1969. He earned a Master’s degree at the University of New Hampshire. In 1970 he embarked on 38 years in public education, serving as teacher, school counselor, school psychologist, assistant superintendent and superintendent. He earned a doctoral degree in educational psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Chuck’s doctoral dissertation explored the relationship between school and family, an interest that guided his work as a psychologist and superintendent. His interest in this relationship led him and his colleagues to champion an alternative to traditional special education. In 1991, he was a National Finalist for School Psychologist of the Year, and in 2005 he was a National Finalist for Superintendent of the Year.
After retirement, he taught educational leadership at the University of New Hampshire, helped develop a program to recover students who had dropped out of school, worked with others to conserve the York River, and currently teaches Art and the Spirituality of Imperfection at the Strafford County House of Correction in Dover, New Hampshire.
Chuck lives with his wife Susan on the southern coast of Maine and is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Dover, New Hampshire.