Peninsula Bridge

Posted on August 30, 2012 9:48 AM

By Deirdre Marlowe, Executive Director

The Summer 2012 program is over. It is quiet now. We miss the excitement of visiting sites and learning that at Bridge Math is just about everybody's favorite subject! How could it not be with questions like: "How many times would you have to fold a piece of paper onto itself to reach the moon?" The emotion of hearing one student say, "Bridge is like a garden, and we are the flowers..." The satisfaction of seeing a student snack on an apple rather than chips after a nutrition class. The "ah ha" when students visit workplaces only seen on tv, and know that with education they are real possibilities. The suspense of how much weight it might take to collapse a popsicle stick bridge students built. The power of having entire classrooms say, I believe in myself.

After my first full summer serving Bridge, I believe in our mission more than ever, and the power of what we do to help motivated middle school students achieve academic and personal success. Every summer our master teachers devote the majority of their time to the core subject areas of Algebra readiness and English language arts. However, other factors contribute to student success, including engagement, self-efficacy and persistence. These are exemplified by something that happened at our fifth-sixth grade site at St. Matthew's Episcopal Day in San Mateo as an outcome of our Walk to London. They started a 15,000 Steps Club for students who walked what is a bit more than seven miles in one day.

Posted on August 30, 2012 9:03 AM

The final steps have been taken, miles recorded, and calculations made... The site that walked the furthest was St. Matthew's with an amazing 3,299 miles, over half the distance to London. Mary E. from St. Matthew's was the top female walker, and Kelvin S., from Crystal Springs, was the top male walker. Each student logged 103 miles! Congratulations to all of our summer scholar athletes for walking a combined 14,072 miles...enough to make it to London, and back, with miles to spare.

Posted on August 30, 2012 8:08 AM

Lucas Brooks, Summer Intern

Lucas Brooks, Paly Class of 2012, joined us this summer as our video intern. "As a Black student whose parents are both Ph.D.'s, one of the first things that became important to me when I entered high school was that everyone have the same educational opportunities that I do, so I did whatever I could to spread the resources I had been blessed with to my underrepresented peers. In my school district      Lucas Brooks (left), Video Intern
there has historically been a sizable minority achievement gap. In the Class of 2011, roughly a third of Latino students and less than half that percentage of Black students graduated ready to go to a four year college whereas nearly all of the White and Asian students (85-90%) did. Outside school, most of my activities were focused around this issue, and I discovered that the most practical way of approaching it was through engaging the entire community -- students, parents, teachers, administrators and school board members.

Posted on August 30, 2012 7:38 AM

Theresa and Students Calculate Portion Size

Theresa Donovan Brown has been part of the Peninsula Bridge community for more than a decade. Her daughter, Julia, was a Teacher Assistant at the SHS Bridge Program for twoyears where she spear-headed an instrumental elective. Last spring, Theresa asked if sites would beinterested in a nutrition class for our summer scholars, especially since somany of them are at risk for Type II diabetes. Six sites were. Theresa comes by her interest in nutrition organically: her mother was a long-time nutrition teacher, and Theresa had been a volunteer teacher of the subject in San Mateo County.

Posted on August 30, 2012 6:52 AM

TAs are high school or college students from our host schools, or Bridge alumni. They are a critical link between site directors and master teachers, and the middle school students we support. TAs are assigned to master teachers and assist in daily planning and delivery of lessons, including prepping materials, correcting homework and providing differentiated instruction. TAs also plan and lead enrichment activities. They do a great deal toward engaging our summer scholars in their education. TAs are old enough to be respected, but young enough to be believed. During a site tour, one student told a visitor, "You're really smart... And nice. You should apply to be a TA next year." TAs benefit, too. Results include improved leadership, teaching skills,and cultural competency, increasingly important in this ever-diversifying world.

Here are some of this summer's TA led activities in addition to sports, arts and crafts, and advisory activities: an inquiry-based science curriculum, real-world math, self-defense, gymnastics, computer-based music composition and production, Mandarin Chinese, an inter-site track and field day, geometry, creative writing, guitar, physics, photography, organic gardening, meditation, yoga... And more...

I make a point to send each student onto the bus with a high five or fist pound along with a smile and cheerful goodbye. Every minute of their experience is important to me and I want their last impression of Bridge to be memorable even if they are just entering a yellow school bus. The little things matter."
Rachael Siegman, 2012 Menlo TA

Posted on August 28, 2012 5:07 PM

On Thursday, July 26, 2012 we took a break from the five long weeks of reading, writing, and problem solving. The highly anticipated Raging Waters trip was under way, and the kids all piled on to the bus at 9:00 in the morning. Since there were over 60 kids and nine TAs, constant TA supervision was not at all possible. Luckily the water park is not that large so our check-in spot was not far from any of the rides. In order to keep kids from getting lost or injured, the buddy system was put into effect. Each scholar athlete paired up with his or her best friend or found a group of friends to share the day with.

As it turned out, banding together with your best buds is the perfect way to try new things and face your fears. I certainly experienced this feeling when a group of 7th graders kept encouraging me to join them on the newest addition to the park, Bombs Away! Last year I did not have the courage to even walk up the stairs to this slide. Complete with a fully enclosed tube, a fifteen-foot drop, and speeds up to 20 mph, this ride just seemed too dangerous for me. I felt bad about disappointing them this time so I joined them on their journey. As we neared the starting capsule with the trap-floor, I realized that I wasn't just tackling this slide for the 7th grader's sake, I really wanted to face my fear of this ride and come out of the blue and black tunnel with a sense of accomplishment. At the end of ride we all celebrated and high-fived each other.

Throughout the rest of the day the scholar athletes went down every slide they could. The weather could not have been better, as it was not to hot but not too cold. I was very happy to see that each kid made it to the 1:30 checkpoint and boarded the bus on time ready to leave the park. One of the kids remarked, "The three and a half hours was the perfect amount of time at Raging waters, because now I am too tired too go on any more rides". Certainly exhausted, I could not agree more.

Posted on August 26, 2012 7:37 PM

Be the Torch

9th Annual Peninsula Bridge Breakfast
Date:  October 25, 2012
Time:  7:30 - 8:30 am  Check in 7:00 am
Location:  Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club
Address:  2900 Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park  Directions

Witness the torch of learning being passed from teacher to student to volunteer!
For more information, call our office at: 650-473-9461

** Registration for this event is now closed**

Posted on August 17, 2012 12:13 PM

A final Word from Castilleja Site Director Mary Hurlbut

The Peninsula Bridge Program at Castilleja concluded with a lovely End of Summer Celebration. Directed and produced by the Peninsula Bridge TAs (who managed lighting, stage direction, costuming, choreography and program details), the rising fifth grade Bridge girls lit up the stage with fabulous dance, poetry, and singing performances. The profusion of thank you's, and the flood of tears and hugs at the end of the event were testament to the strong bonds established throughout the short five weeks. 

Posted on August 9, 2012 4:33 PM

The summer is quickly ending while the Peninsula Bridge's Woodside Priory Program has been coming to a close. During the last few days of Bridge the kids have taken their last few tests, showing how much they have learned in just a couple of weeks. On Thursday the kids went on a field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. This trip was related to the students' art class because they have been learning about illusions for a couple weeks. The kids loved the exhibits and at lunch we had a small picnic near the golden gate bridge.

Posted on August 9, 2012 4:29 PM

As the beginning of the fifth week started the thought that ran through my mind was: "How am I going to feel after I leave these kids?" When we first started Bridge I looked at the kids, and I never could have imagined that I would feel this sad at the end of the end of the program. I have made so many relationships with these kids, and now I can't imagine my summer without them.