November 15, 2008

Greetings to all BTWHS Alumni,

It is an honor to address you as your National President for the 2008 through 2010 term.

Firstly, I feel compelled to provide you with a sketch of my biography because of the possibility that you may not be familiar with me due to the many years of graduating classes. 

I was born in Texarkana, Arkansas as the child of Ivy Watts, my father, and the former Ruby Wright, my mother.  My only sibling is my sister, Ruth Watts Oakley.  I graduated from BTWHS in 1959; Compton College, Compton, California (A.A.); and the University of Maryland at College Park (B.A.), majoring in business administration.  I am retired from the Federal Government after serving forty-one years of combined military and civilian Federal service.  I reside in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. where I use my skills as a retired Computer Information Technology Specialist in a home based business and as accountant for my church.  I am married to the former Bernice Smith with whom our family includes three grown children.

Secondly, I commend the members of the Washington, D.C. Chapter (TACDOC) for hosting a superb and splendid reunion this past July 17-20, 2008

Thirdly, I believe that the organization structure of our alumni is sound enough to address the challenges facing us.  I agree with the assessments of previous national presidents that our greatest challenge is addressing decreasing membership.  I welcome and encourage your ideas and suggestions relative to stabilizing and increasing membership of the local chapters.  I believe that increasing the at-large membership offers the most pragmatic and immediate hope for success.  Consequently, I will be working closely with the at-large and regional directors, as well as the chapter presidents.

Finally, I will be conducting meetings with the national officers and members of the Executive Committee in the near future.

Thank you for your trust and confidence in me.  I look forward to working with all of you during this two year term.

 

Sincerely,

JAMES IVY WATTS

National President  07/2008 - 07/2010

301-249-1937 

JamesIvyWatts@att.net