On the brisk summer evening of July 9th, families gathered eagerly in the Father Egon Plaza. You could sense the anticipation and excitement on behalf of the parents as well as their children. In between helpings of Brie, fruit, and Priory's homemade cookies, parents congregated with the Bridge Familia here at the Priory. Back to Bridge Night '09 was certainly an event to remember.
The night began with a raffle to congratulate the kids on turning in all of their required forms. The director raffled off desirable prizes including gifts cards to target, two ipod shuffles, and even a cutting edge digital camera that went to one of our own photography students, Alice A. When asked about how it feels to have her own camera, Alice graciously responds with a
smile. "I feel really lucky because I didn't expect it. When it happened I was shocked and surprised and really, really happy." She's looking forward to using this new camera with the skills she's acquired in photography over the past two weeks. What a perfect candidate!
After the raffle, students guided their parents through a condensed version of the daily schedule. The teachers used their fifteen-minute rotations wisely doing exercises that involved both students and parents. In Algebra, they were asked to solve an equation. Justin R. recalls, "My mom thought the math question was hard. I taught her though." It's pleasing to see that students are gaining confidence academically.
In English, the students collaborated with their parents to write poetry. I observed Lindsey A. patiently help her Dad translate the poem into English. Parents were very impressed with the portraits that their emerging artists were able to create in Art and Leadership. Many of the students chose role models to depict themselves including; Rosa Parks and MLK, just to mention a few. In Computer Math, the students were able to show off the three-dimensional toys they designed and built from a one-dimensional paper layout. The parents seemed quite engaged with all of these projects, and proud to witness their student's growth.
To follow closely with the daily schedule, the night ended with two break activities, lead by the cherished Athletic Director, Servando B. Parents were fervent cheer leaders/participants in both the bubble gum blowing contest and the hula-hoop pass. The investment that these parents have in their children became very apparent throughout the course of the evening. They also seemed to really enjoy the experience of reenacting a day at Bridge. Flores recalls
his mother's surprise by the way we organized the event. He admits, "I was surprised. I thought it was going to be a regular back to school night, but it was different. It was more." It appears as though we met our goal of making the night both fun and informative for the families of these students. The director, Mr. LaValle agrees. He recalls how "It was great to see the parents leaving Back to Bridge with the same smiles we see the kids leaving with every day." This is just the outcome we were hoping for.