Townsend stands tall as Assistant Principal
2/26/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Former men's basketball standout James Townsend has has a busy life since graduating in 2015.
Last year, Townsend worked in New York while his girlfriend Marina was finishing up at Columbia Law School.
"Weather was probably the worst and commuting was the second worst part but overall it was nice," he said. "There is always something to do in New York, but I'm happy to be back. I'm a California boy at heart."
Townsend first arrived at UCSC in Fall 2011. "In Sacramento, I grew up in Oak Park which is a historically black neighborhood. I went to all black schools and it was very comfortable for me being black and going to school seeing people that were like me and looked like me and had the same experiences as me," he said. "And then going to Santa Cruz, it was definitely a culture shock, but I feel like I was able to find community when it came to being on the basketball team. I had my brothers that had my back and showed me the way. And then you know the black community at Santa Cruz is very small, but we're a tight knit group and everybody really looks out for each other. Being part of Black Men's Alliance really helped, especially my freshman year when there were a lot of seniors and guys that already knew the ropes that really looked out for me.
"I think that's what's really special about the black community at Santa Cruz is that everybody knows it's a struggle being there and it's just a small community, a small space but everybody has each other's back and it's really positive."
His first day at basketball practice, he met Marshal Arnwine Jr., who is currently working for the ACLU in Sacramento.
"Even to this day Marshal's my best friend," Townsend said "We really supported each other and helped each other through. And my two other best friends- one is Garrett Graham and the other is Zach Smith and both of them graduated from UC Santa Cruz. Without those guys I wouldn't have made it. It just shows that like there were 4 of us and we really bonded and worked together to support each other and pick each other up when we fell, and that was a part that I owe it to that community to help me get through that in those tough moments in college."
Joining Teach for America after graduation, Townsend then taught middle school back in Sacramento before his New York adventure. Last February, he became the assistant Principal at KIPP Esperanza High School in Palo Alto, beginning his new position right before the pandemic shut things down. The KIPP schools, which stands for the Knowledge Is Power Program, are a nationwide network of charter schools.
"It's nice to be back at a KIPP school trying to give back to students and I already did the teaching thing and now as an administrator I have even more power to affect change," said Townsend, who attended a KIPP school for middle school. "I feel like that was the turning point in my life too. That was where I met my mentor, who was the principal of my school, was a father figure to me and really helped me to get on the right track. From then, that was where I was playing basketball and took school seriously, and put those two things together."
Townsend at KIPP Esperanza in Palo Alto
So does now working at a KIPP feel like a homecoming for him?
"Yeah, it kind of feels that way," he said "because thats kind of what their model is. They want to help inner city students who need it the most, go to college, be successful and then hopefully come back and pay kind of pay it forward."
"At Esperanza we are small but mighty," he continued. "It's been crazy starting a school when we've been online all year, so we haven't been able to meet the students very much but we figured out how to build those relationships. I think at the beginning it was rocky but our students got the hang of it our teachers are really really strong and so I am happy with where I'm at."
In addition to his Assistant Principal role, Townsend will also be the athletic director when the Eagles start competition next school year with just freshmen and sophomores at the school.
"I coached when I was teaching middle school a few years ago, and we won our city championship in Sacramento. I enjoyed it but I don't know if I'm going to be spread too thin being assistant principal, coach and AD and so were kind of deciding right now, but it will be one or the other. I'm probably leaning towards being the AD so that I can be on campus more often."
