James Watson
Executive Director of The Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio
By: Charles Arriaga, Incite Blogger
Meeting with the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio (BGCSA) in his Westside office, after the small talk ended I started to go over the set of questions I had advanced to him, he quickly said, “Please highlight the organization and not me”, I agreed to do as he wished. Not to undermine what Mr. Watson has accomplished before and after arriving to the BGCSA, I like to give credit where credit is due. A native San Antonian he was born on the Westside and was baptized at The Shrine of the Little Flower. His family moved to New York where he graduated high school and went on to graduate from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachutes with a Bachelors degree in Economics. He then moved to Boulder, Colorado to join the Air Force and started attending The University of Colorado. In 1965 he obtained his MBA in Finance. He went on serve 28 years in the Air Force, entering as Second Lieutenant and retiring in 1994 with the rank of Colonel. He decided to forego a lucrative job with USAA and decided to go work for a not for profit community clinic. In January of 97 he came on board as the Executive Director for the BGCSA. As I thought we were winding down the real story began. He told me that 95% of the kids who attend the BGCSA go on to graduate from High School. He then told me about two individuals that have gone through the BGCSA and there amazing transformations.
He first told me about a young man name Jose, his parents were struggling to keep him in school and out of trouble. He started attending the Westside branch and started doing better, but the real change came when Mr. Watson was able to secure a spot for Jose to run a portion of the Olympic torch while it made a stop here in San Antonio. Mr. Watson knew the spot they had assigned him was with out much fan fare and decided to roundup the office staff and who ever else he could find to go cheer on Jose. As he ran his mile rout and approached an elementary school on the eastside the early morning silence was broken with thunderous applause, for the principle had all the children, faculty and staff of the school come out to cheer Jose on as he passed by. Jose running in his Olympic outfit and torch in hand, was all smiles. When he finished he went back to school where the principle of Lanier H.S. had the students come out and meet John and congratulated Jose again for a job well done. Those two moments of acceptance and affirmation, Mr. Watson feels, changed Jose’s outlook on life. Jose went on to graduate Lanier in 2009 and is now attending Texas Tech University. John was the first in his family to graduate high school and now is serving as a positive role model for his younger brothers and sisters.
Then there is Danielle, a member of the Eastside branch. Danielle too was struggling just to get by and trying to stay out of trouble. After becoming real active with the club and seeing a real difference in her, a staff member convinced Danielle to try out for the Youth of the Year Award. Danielle went on to win the San Antonio, South Texas, Texas and S.W. Region Youth of the Year Award. She was able to compete at the national level and meet President George W. Bush. Danielle went on to graduate from Judson H.S., has go on to graduate from Spelman College and now is attending the University of Richmond Law School.
These are just two stories of thousands where the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio have made a real difference on an individual’s life. Not only has it changed their personal lives forever they now act as positive role models for others too.
I asked what other goals Mr. Watson is working on, he replied” To stabilize and maintain the growth the BGCSA has seen over the last ten years”. When Mr. Watson came on there were only two locations the Eastside and Westside (Calderon) Branches. With Mr. Watson’s help and many others behind the scenes they were able to grow that two into 5 branches (Calderon, Crestholme, Eastside, Candelwood, and Teen Center) and 33 school sites (16 SAISD, 2 Judson ISD, 17 Harlandale ISD and 1 Edgewood ISD). The BGCSA has been in operation for 71 years. As we ended our talk he told me to think about this “Kids who come to the club, spend more time than they do in school (includes after school and summer) and because of that the club plays an important role in the development of their character”.
