It has been a great summer working with the students at the Crystal Springs site for Peninsula Bridge. We have had a lot of fun. The students got to improve their math and language arts skills, while also getting experience fun electives and field trips. One of the most exciting moments this year was going to Raging Waters and Great America with the students last week. The 7th grade students had fun slipping and sliding at Raging Waters, while the 8th grade students were screaming their heads off on the roller coasters at Great America. Both grades enjoyed the field trips, as well as the TAs.

I am so happy to have been involved with Peninsula Bridge this year. I hope to do this again next year.

This is the final week of Peninsula Summer Bridge 2010 at Menlo School and it has been filled with activities of all sorts. On Wednesday, we had a 'Celebration of Learning' event, during which parents were invited and there was a slideshow and, most notably, a talent show. A large majority of the students participated and everyone had fun.

Today is Friday and it wasn't until the end of the day that I realized how much I didn't want any of this to end. I couldn't stop hugging the students in my family group goodbye. I took pictures all day and even though none of them were really that great, I was somehow able to perfectly frame the smiles in their eyes as the day came to a close. But just before everyone got on the bus, one of the boys from my family group said to me 'I won't ever forget your note.' I had signed this student's card at lunch earlier saying how really great it was getting to know him and getting to see him everyday. I had said also on the letter how much I would miss him and how much I really wished over anything else that he would remember to always have fun. When he told me at the end of the day that he wouldn't ever forget my note, it didn't hit me how really important and powerful that was. And yet, now as I sit here and finish writing this blog, it does hit me. I really made a difference. I was actually able to change something and create a positive influence. And he really made a difference. He changed me and I won't forget what he said to me.

Instead of reviewing the activities of the final week of Peninsula Bridge, I am compelled to reflect on the entire last 5 weeks. From the first day of staff training, I was immediately struck by the enthusiasm, motivation, and passion of my fellow TAs. Site Director, Brendan Gummerson, set the bar high from the moment we walked in the room. However, what has truly separated Peninsula Bridge from other programs and summer camps I have worked for in the past are the kids themselves.

Over the past couple of days, I have been asking students what their favorite part of Peninsula Bridge was. I have yet to hear a single student respond by saying, "Recess." Their excitement and motivation makes every day rewarding and extremely fun. Anyone who has the opportunity to be involved in this program will understand my enthusiasm.

Peninsula Bridge: Thanks for the great summer!

I cannot believe that Peninsula Bridge is almost over! We've had such a jam-packed week here at Castilleja that I did not even remember that it was our last week until the TA's began to discuss our family & friends day, which occurs on the final day of the program. Now, on Friday morning, the reality of the end is blunt and sad, yet sprinkled with a sense of accomplishment. I know that the other TA's and I, as well as our wonderful teachers, have given our 31 girls a great summer and a strong foundation for 5th grade!

Back at Castilleja's campus, we have been pressing to finish all of the projects we started throughout the summer. Our planter boxes with our organic vegetables are almost finished, and will be used to house herb gardens. The brightly colored accordion books have also been finished and are looking great!

Our celebration on the final day is shaping up to be quite spectacular. This is a time for parents and friends to come to Castilleja and see what we have been up to all summer! The girls have been practicing the song that Mrs. P taught them at the beginning of the summer and are sounding harmonious. They will also do the dances that Mia has been working with them on.

I am disappointed that the summer is over and that I will not get to spend more time with our 31 wonderful girls, 5 other awesome TA's, and 3 fun teachers, but I will never forget this summer and am so thankful I was able to experience it.

Peninsula Bridge is one big production and the kids are the entertainers. Every day I come to Peninsula Bridge as an excited audience member encouraging the children to do their best.

In English class, I watch them write and perform their very own skits and help them in the process by making props. They are writing these skits to show their understanding of the reading and to address the problems with bullying and name calling.  Seeing them perform their finished products was amazing. I am their biggest fan, cheering every chance I get.

My favorite activity to see as an audience member is the elective, cooking, where our young chefs prepare marvelous meals. I enjoy tasting whatever they can make such as chocolate chip waffles, hash browns, pasta, garlic bread, quesadillas, nachos, and smoothies.

In the organic gardening elective, I watch the students pull up garlic and learn how to use a compost box. This summer, we got to plant pumpkins in our very own Peninsula Bridge Pumpkin Patch.

In the dance elective, I watch the elegant moves of the campers and watch their very own dance routines that the students created.

In the improvisational comedy elective, I watch the kids crack jokes and take on theatrical roles as I roar with laughter.

In the sports elective, I act as the crazed soccer fan cheering after every goal and showering the students with encouragement.

Every day at Peninsula Bridge is a wonderful show that provides fresh and new material every single day. I am so honored to be a part of these students' lives and to be an active participant in their learning and exploration. Peninsula Bridge is truly too good for TV.

We have reached the last week of Peninsula Bride at Woodside Priory, and everyone can feel things coming to a close. The kids took their post tests on Thursday, which will be used to show the kids progress over the summer. These tests marked the final academic event of the summer, and the kids seem very proud of it.

All the students look forward to the field trip on our last day, Friday, and spending the last day as Peninsula Bridge students with their classmates and teachers.

From everyone at Woodside Priory we would like to say congratulations to all the Peninsula Bridge students.

We have reached the fourth week of Peninsula Bridge at the Woodside Priory campus, and people are beginning to look towards the end with mingled sadness and pride.  The Construction and Design class finished its course this week with the final project of testing the bridges that the students made. They tied a bucket full of water to the center of the bridge and placed weights in the bucket until it reached maximum weight.  All the bridges that the students constructed passed the test and the students were very proud of their creations.  The class as a whole learned a lot about what goes into the construction of a bridge and how important they really are in our every day life.  A big thank you to DPR construction for their magnificent work.

The faculty and students now look forward to the final week of Peninsula Bridge, which includes the field trip and field day, both of which offer ample opportunity for fun and meaningful farewells.

Bridge ball, bridge ball, bridge ball. There are so many things to say about this wonderful sport. Bridge ball is dodge ball, except it is cranked up to a whole new level. It is more intense, more exhilarating, and just plain old more fun. The rules are the same as dodge ball- hit the person they are out and catch the ball and a teammate can come back into the game- but for some reason playing it at Peninsula Bridge just makes the game so much different.

In English class with Ms. Amar, both grades are preparing to finish their novels. The 7^th grade is reading So Be It and the 8th grade is reading Of Mice and Men. The 7th grade will be working on a Response to Literature in the form of a Body Biography, in which they create a life-size drawing of a chosen character and use quotes from the book to connect to various parts of the body (such as the heart, the arms, the mind, etc). The 8th grade continued their Power Struggle essays in which they explore the various power relations between the characters in the book.

The electives are going great, and all of the T.A.s are beginning to wrap up their classes. In my elective, Mythology, the students are working on a paper in which they research a god or goddesses who is not widely known in the world of Mythology. These gods/goddesses can be considered "minor deities" and the point of the paper is to expose the students to the wide world of Mythology and familiarize them with deities other Zeus or Hades. Their papers are due on Wednesday, and beginning Thursday and into Friday, they will present their god/goddess to the class. This gives the students a chance to show what they have learned and provides a fun opportunity to teach the class.

Overall, Monday ended well, and we look forward to a great 4th week as we prepare for the end of the program.

It is the end of the fourth week already here at Peninsula Bridge! I cannot believe it is almost done. On Friday, July 16 we had guests from the Marine Institute visit with the 5th graders from St. Joseph's and the 7th graders from Sacred Heart. In the past, we have gone on field trips on boats in the bay with the Marine Institute, but now we have them come to our campus.

The fourth week here at the Castilleja Peninsula Bridge site has been full of excitement and wonder. We started off the week with our field trip to S.L.A.C. (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center). Our site director, Mary H, gave the girls a brief background to S.L.A.C. as well as a short vocabulary lesson on some of the words that the scientists would use there.

Our next field trip was to the San Jose Tech Museum.   Here, the girls were excited to see the connection between our last fieldtrip, S.LA.C., and the featured film at the museum's Imax Theater about the Hubble Space Telescope.  One of our students summarized the film well, stating, "The telescope lets us travel to space without having to leave our home, Earth."   They wandered around the museum learning about the biology of bones, earthquakes, robots, space, and genetics.  They had a blast and can't wait for our next fieldtrip to the TK Ranch!

The girls also got to work on one of their many interesting projects this week.  They began working on their quilt squares this week.  They sketched their designs and copied them onto fabric. Similar to an iron-on, the fabric was connected to a material that had glue on it, and when they cut their designs out, we ironed them onto their main square.  They will continue to work on them next week as well.

This summer, Peninsula Bridge has flown by, and it is unbelievable that we only have a week left with the girls. We are excited to see what the final week has in store for us!

Week four of Peninsula Bridge at the St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School site was filled with howls and triumph. The week started off with the 6th grade math class beginning their lesson with a run around the grass outside while howling like wolves. The math teacher Mr. Williamson likes to get the kids pumped up for learning something new by getting oxygen flowing to their brains. Meanwhile, the 5th grade has been working hard on their personal narratives in language arts, and are almost done reading Tuck Everlasting.

Since this is the last week of the program, I decided to ask some Teacher Assistants about their experience so far with the Peninsula Bridge Program.  I asked if they had any lasting realizations from working with the kids one on one, or if they had any special moments with the students.  Each and every TA had something to bring to the table.

For the TA's. this summer has offered them a chance to see things from the eyes of a teacher yet also at the level of a fellow student.  "Being a teacher is harder than I thought," said one TA. Peninsula Bridge has not only been a learning experience for the students but for the teachers and assistants to expand their own knowledge and gain new experiences.  It is a chance to put student volunteers, teachers and students into each other's shoes and see things we otherwise would not have had a chance to see.

Abram, one of our enrichment TA's, told me about this great experience he had with the students.  He explains, "The students are so fascinated by the smallest things.  They come up to you and ask you questions about anything, everything, life. I showed them the inside of a piano, I showed them what happens to the strings when you press a note and hit the pedals. They had never seen it before.  They had never had a chance to see what makes a piano a piano."  As small as it is and even though it doesn't have much to do with their other classes, Abram's story has everything to do with something that the students wished to know.  It is a moment like this that stretches the students' imaginations, their knowledge and their understanding.  These are the moments that remind us what Peninsula Bridge is really about. A moments like this is one that we all remember after our summer here is gone.

This week at Woodside Priory we hosted another tour for the program. This group was the largest tour group the priory program has hosted this summer, and the tour guides handled the crowd admirably. Among the group were several parents of the TA's, including Katrina Wang's family who had flown in only hours before the tour from Beijing, as well as Mike Calbert, the father of this humble blog writer.

My own father said that he was impressed with the program and was surprised that he had never heard of it before, even though it was in its twentieth year.

On a humorous note the last Priory tour coincided with the Halloween Spirit day, so the TA's had to give the tour while dressed up in their various costumes, which momentarily confused the tour group's members at the start.

Several of Priory's TAs were able to go and be apart of a tour of the Sacred Heart Peninsula Bridge site and see how they ran the program. It was extremely insightful to see where the Priory's eight grade Peninsula Bridge students were coming from, as Sacred Heart hosts seventh grade, and how they had been taught at Peninsula Bridge in the past. The tour was led by two Sacred Heart TA's who showed us all of the different classes in their enrichment program, ranging form a piano class to a cooking class (which used ingredients from Sacred Heart's personal organic garden). The tour was unable to see the academic programs in action since we arrived during the students' afternoon activities. But site director, Scott McDade, gave the tour an informative talk about the classes at Sacred Heart. One of the most impressive aspects of the tour was the dance class's performance of a dance they had choreographed themselves.

In other news at Priory, Mrs. Briggs' class finished up their picture story projects, writing several stories using elements of fiction such as tone, plot, and character. The narrative and descriptive aspects of the stories were very well done and the kids had a lot of fun doing it.

This week also marks the final day of the Fashion Elective. The dresses that the girls designed are currently being sewn together by our TA, Matt, who will bring in the finished products later.