“Watson and Associates
have become outstanding friends to our university in just a short
time, and we appreciate the way they have embraced so much that
we do at Cal State San Bernardino. Beyond their remarkable relationship
with CSUSB, they are extremely committed to helping school children
become better students and ultimately citizens who are productive
to society,” said Cal State San Bernardino President Albert
Karnig. “Through the generous help of Jim, Judy, Chuck, Charlie,
Brian and Bill, our literacy center will become a model for other
universities to emulate in helping children overcome the devastating
obstacles created by illiteracy.”
Now in its third year,
the Watson and Associates Literacy Center focuses on helping school
children in kindergarten through 12th grade in the San Bernardino
area bolster their reading skills and achieve higher test scores.
The center, which will move into a new 4,000-square-foot facility
when the new College of Education building opens in winter 2007-2008,
offers one-on-one tutoring to help children with their reading,
writing and oral skills through specifically designed programs.
It will also provide literacy instruction training to CSUSB students
as well as local elementary school teachers.
For Jim Watson, president
of Watson and Associates, the literacy center hits a personal note.
Watson grew up in Compton, and was raised by his mother after his
father died when he was 6 years old. He openly admits to being
a “problem reader” as a child.
“I entered the fourth
grade with poor reading skills,” Watson said. “But
with the help of a very dedicated teacher, within a month my reading
skills had improved significantly. I still consider that class
the most significant class I have ever taken, even up to college.”
The center’s vision
has broader meaning for Watson as well. “While there are
endless numbers of good, worthwhile causes to support, literacy
struck an especially strong chord,” Watson said. “Solid
reading skills obtained at an early age are one of the best means
of ensuring a person’s, a family’s and the nation’s
future success.”
Watson and Associates,
which is developing the site directly adjacent to CSUSB with upscale
homes, plans to develop more than $300 million in San Bernardino
residential projects in the upcoming years. This comes at a time
when city officials are striving for economic revitalization. The
new homes could attract higher-income workers and their families
to live and work in the area.
The development across
the street from Cal State San Bernardino will include four parks,
walking trails and nearly 500 trees that were planted last year.
The first phase has been constructed, while “The Heights
at University Park,” which will be located on the hillside
above the first houses, will be completed soon.
Now the Watsons are leading
an effort called “Tools for Education” to raise $4
million to equip and furnish the new CSUSB College of Education
building. So far, they've raised more than $1.7 million. Watson
and Associates also have pledged $300,000 to the university's art
department to create works for display around the city.
To some, Jim and Judy
Watson and Watson and Associates are land developers, but to Cal
State San Bernardino they are much more. They are developing the
minds and futures of the area’s youth, securing for them
a place in which they can learn and grow.
For more information contact
the university’s public affairs office at (909) 537-5007
and visit the university’s news site at http://news.csusb.edu.
Click here to visit the Literacy Center web site. |
