Winter J. Nurse, Founder of Jewel Athletic Scholastic Institute (JASI)
Winter J. Nurse was born December 21, 1979 in Baltimore Maryland. She is married to her husband of five years and counting, Alberto Nurse Jr. December of 2004, Mrs. Nurse graduated from Texas State University- San Marcos with her Bachelor of Exercise Sports Science. She has had various diverse occupations such as: Cashier, Delivery Driver, Assistant Manager, Volleyball Coach, Basketball Coach, Art Teacher, Professional Bank Teller, Health Teacher, Recreational Program Supervisor, Recreation Assistant, Resident Assistant, Business Office Assistant, Conference Assistant, Physical Education Instructor, and Performance Coach.
The Birth of My Calling
The Academic Athletic Sports Facility (AASF) idea originated in 2003, when Winter J. Nurse was a student at Texas State University. The name Jewel Athletic Scholastic Institute (JASI) was originated in April 2008, which was suggested by advisors as a suitable name for her vision. JASI was rooted from her life experiences as a student athlete from 1992–1997.
In 1996–1997 basketball season, Mrs. Nurse's senior year, she was benched. “I didn't have the mind set or maturity to understand what my new hired head coach was expecting of me.” “I became my own worst enemy, and defeated myself mentally,” said Mrs. Nurse. She did very well her sophomore and junior year of high school and may have had an opportunity to play at the collegiate level.
Academically, Mrs. Nurse would successfully maintain University Interscholastic League (UIL) standards to play basketball in school. This standard helped motivate her to do well in the class room. She relied on extra help such as tutoring in reading, math, and science during her early education development. At one time, there was a huge concern regarding her poor comprehension of class work that she was tested by professionals to diagnose if she had any learning disorder. To overcome this obstacle, she had personal tutors in Math and Reading. She also took reading classes as a elective to enhance her levels of reading.
During the summer of 1996, Mrs. Nurse had to go to summer school for TAAS tutoring, which was a standardized test in Texas that all seniors in high school had to pass before graduating. She was tutored in the subjects of Math and English. She took the SAT and ACT one time due to it being the last testing dates to take before college deadlines. Her scores were border line for junior college enrollment. Those test scores haunted her until she successfully completed all required course work to transfer to a four year university.
In spite of Mrs. Nurse academic and athletic woes, she still had the desire to play basketball and hopefully get a college athletic scholarship at a four year university. So she played intramural basketball for her junior college to stay competitive and in physical shape. There she was playing, but who was watching her to play at the next level? So she took it upon herself to have her games videotaped to give to the college she wanted to transfer too, such as Texas State University- San Marcos Texas. Having limited knowledge of playing on the next level, limited knowledge of NCAA regulations and rules for a transfer student, she only had one year of eligibility left which would have to be a red shirt year when she transferred to TSU—San Marcos Texas. It was devastating, but would birth a tremendous passion to help student athletes today that may be in the same shoes she was in.
