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Groups that Give
Junior University
By Jaime Calder
PHOTO BY JAIME CALDER
Jason (left) and George Wagner (right) enjoy lunch together at Brookwood in Georgetown (BiG). George is a regular
volunteer at BiG. Jason has been a Citizen of BiG since it opened in 2011.
It began, as so many things do, at a as a mentor don’t even have that. They tionships. A child who knows someone is
party. struggle academically, or live in an un- there for them, cares about them, some-
safe environment. It’s very hard to grow one they can to turn to for guidance is
It was 1997. George Wagner had just re- up like that.” far more likely to succeed in life.”
tired from a 35-year career at 3M and
moved to Sun City Texas with his wife He knows, because that was how he grew Through Junior University, George helps
Maria. While attending a cocktail party, up. As a boy in Brooklyn, the classroom kids to develop what he calls “Core Val-
a guest suggested George consider using was not a place he enjoyed being and ues.” Activities range from building self-
his newfound free time to mentor. home was not – in today’s parlance – a confidence and teamwork through the
“safe space.” Back then, schools did not Mitchell Golf Clinic and the SCTX Soft-
“So,” George says, “I simply went down offer mentoring programs, but George ball and Bocce Clubs to recruiting and
to the school and signed up.” was able to find the support and confi- participating in science fairs at Mitchell
dence he needed in organized sports, the Elementary to simply lending an ear to
GISD only asked for thirty minutes, once local Boys and Girls Club and, later, the the young adults at BiG.
a week, with just one student. But 19 Marines.
years later, George has given thousands “George does an absolutely incredible job
of hours not just at GISD, but also with “I ran off and joined the Marines when with these kids,” says Sun City resident
Brookwood in Georgetown (BiG), the Wil- I was 16.” He laughs, adding, “They set Dave Snow, who has worked with Junior
liamson County Juvenile Detention Cen- me straight.” University’s Softball Camp for the last
ter, Head Start and more. Together with three years. “Most of the kids who come
George’s own initiatives, these enterprises Today, George spends an average of four have never played ball before… by the
have formed a collegiate-style assortment years with each child he mentors, build- time we start the intramural game, some
of programs that can only be described as ing a one-on-one relationship rooted in of these kids turn out to be really good
one thing: a Junior University. trust, compassion and integrity – char- players. They come out of their shells – to
acter traits he learned from his mother, watch them progress is very impressive.”
George had never planned on developing his afternoons at the Boys and Girls Club
Junior University. But the more involved and his time in the service. Jennie Thollander, Program Director at
he became with local kids, the more he BiG, says their community is blessed to
could recognize many of the problems “Some people are surprised by what have people like George in their lives.
they were facing. Junior University does,” says George, “Our volunteers become surrogate grand-
“because they don’t know what a men-
“My mother mostly raised us on her own,” tor is. Mentoring is about building rela- Continued on page 36
says George. “A lot of the kids I meet
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
34 | SUNRAYS JULY 2016
