 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home About Us Apply to Teach Success Stories Press Room Contribute Alumni Careers Contact Us |
"I found myself,
and I found a lot of other teachers, motivated to be excellent in
a way that was deeper and more all-encompassing than in any other
experience."
- Christina Dixon, former Breakthrough teacher and site director
Former Summerbridge Sacramento Teacher How did you get involved in Breakthrough? One summer, my normal job with the UC Cooperative Extension fell through, and I remembered a Summerbridge application I had picked up for a friend who was interested in teaching. I looked it over and it sounded fascinating, so I called the Summerbridge Sacramento director to see if there were still teaching spots available. There were, so I applied (and loved it). What roles have you had in the organization? During the three summer sessions I taught, I chaired the science department. I also regularly attended Summerbridge Saturday events and tutored SB students at a school site for two years. Last summer (which was after I graduated from college, so I couldn't teach), I worked part-time with Summerbridge as a dean of academics and instruction, writing sample science curricula and collaborating with science teachers. What are you doing now? I am currently teaching full-time (7th grade science) at Goethe Middle School in Sacramento, California. How has Breakthrough/Summerbridge changed your life? I never would have gone into teaching without my Summerbridge experience. Summerbridge also provided me with my first opportunity to work with diverse groups of people, and showed me the desperate need for social justice and equality in our education (and other social) system(s). Why is the program important to you? Summerbridge impacts people's lives. It forms a bond between members of its community that is incredibly strong. Recently, I went to the Summerbridge Sacramento reunion, and saw students who were eighth graders when I taught my first summer. They are now in 11th grade and talking about colleges, but they still remember me and I them. For me, the greatest thing about Summerbridge is its ability to make a community where academics are the primary focus and it's cool to be smart and hard-working.
Former Summerbridge Houston Teacher My Summerbridge experience began during the summer of 1997, after I finished my freshman year at the University of North Carolina. As part of the Morehead Scholarship Summer Enrichment Program at Carolina, I was invited to be a part of the Summerbridge Houston staff. In only its second year of existence, Summerbridge Houston was still in its exciting beginning stages. I was asked to join three other teachers on “Mission Control,” and we played a large role in leading the staff that summer. I taught 7th grade Science, a creative writing mini-course, and oversaw many of the administrative functions of the staff. I was so impacted by the experience, that I begged the Morehead Foundation to allow me to return to Summerbridge Houston for a second summer. During that summer, I served as an assistant to the directors (in the capacity of an administrative intern) and was in charge of developing a curriculum for the program’s Life Labs course, coordinating communication with the Advisory Council, setting up weekly field trips, and a variety of other responsibilities. My Summerbridge experience was without question the single most important experience of my life; it truly changed my outlook on life and my career path. As a business major at the University of North Carolina, I had always imagined myself continuing on to the traditional consulting or investment banking careers that all business majors seek out…that is, until my Summerbridge experience. As a young college student from rural North Carolina, I was not prepared for what I was about to experience at Summerbridge Houston. There was something about those students that summer – Fernando, Luis, April, Elise, Rafael – that left an indelible mark. It was the first time in my life that I felt empowered to truly impact the lives of others. The relationships that I was able to develop with both the students and teachers that summer allowed me to realize that there was more to life than just climbing the corporate ladder. I knew that I would never be truly fulfilled unless I devoted my life to working with young people. I returned to my campus and immediately started finding ways to become more involved with young people. I started working at a teen center for alternative students and spent a few hours each week tutoring at a local elementary school. When it came time to decide my honors thesis topic during my senior year of business school, I seized the opportunity to explore the issues surrounding urban education. I decided to examine Corporate America’s role in urban educational reform. Deviating from the traditional business path, I ultimately decided that my business skills would best be utilized in a 3rd grade classroom in Atlanta with the Teach For America program. Upon graduation, I returned to Houston for a third summer for the TFA Institute. Reconnecting with my students was an energizing experience, and being able to visit my home-stay hosts (with whom I remain very close…in fact, I call them my grandparents!) was so memorable. I spent two years teaching in an inner city Atlanta elementary school, but quickly became disheartened by the educational opportunities my students had after leaving my school. After learning about the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and the Fisher Fellowship (which trains educators to start their own KIPP schools), I finally found what I had been searching for…a way to wed my passion for education with my natural talents and studies in business and administration. I took a year off to participate in the KIPP School Leadership Program and began the hard work of setting up my own charter school. I spent months finding a facility, hiring teachers, recruiting students, buying textbooks and supplies, negotiating food and transportation services, and all of the other details that go into starting a school. Two months ago, KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars (WAYS) Academy became a reality when 82 fifth graders gathered in my school’s hallway to listen to perhaps the youngest principal they had ever seen deliver a passionate speech about how they, as the Class of 2011, will soon be the scholars who are storming the halls of every Ivy League College in this nation. Our school year has gotten off to a great start, and we are already starting to see the impact of our work. As a principal and school founder, I still have the spark that made me an effective Summerbridge teacher. The teaching bug that hit me back in the summer of 1997 continues to burn within me, and over this past year, it has only grown stronger as I have received high school graduation invitations from some of my former Summerbridge students. I believe strongly in the power of the Summerbridge experience for both teachers and students. I have seen the long-term impact it has made on the lives of middle school students, and college students, such as myself. My connections among the Summerbridge family have only been strengthened as the years have faded. I continue to maintain relationships with a few of my former students, and I speak regularly to my former director and a few fellow-teachers. Mindy Hoffert, Houston’s former Executive Director, recently sent me a care package for my first weeks as a principal. Felicia Lewis, Summerbridge Atlanta’s Executive Director, sits on my school’s Board of Directors. And, of course, I couldn’t have recruited quality teachers unless I found a former Summerbridge teacher – Diana Ellsworth, a former Summerbridge DC teacher, is now KIPP WAYS Academy’s 5th grade Language Arts teacher.
Former San Francisco University High School Summerbridge Teacher How did you get involved in Summerbridge/Breakthrough? During the summer of 1990, between my junior and senior years at Duke, I taught at the San Francisco University High School Summerbridge program. I remember Lois Loofbourrow, Tom Malarkey, Tania Altamirano, and others all excited about our “sister” program in New Orleans—but to be quite honest, I was so completely focused on the students, families, my fellow teachers, and the magic of San Francisco and the Bay Area that the full impact of the first “replication” of the model didn’t sink in until much later. What roles have you had in the organization? During the summer of 1990, I taught three morning classes—Speech and Leadership Skills to 7-8th graders, Spanish to 6-7th graders, and Social Psychology to 8-9th graders. I also taught a minicourse called SummerStep, where myself and Phillip Long from Harvard, did some hip-hop/jazz dance, and our students performed in Celebration to MC Hammer’s hit song, “Hammer Time.” I also worked with a group of teachers to plan and execute the first “Diversity Week” at Summerbridge San Francisco. Finally, I helped facilitate parent-teacher conferences, translating for some of the Spanish-speaking parents. (Incidentally, that was a great summer—it produced Ria Grosvenor, Founder/Co-Director of the Riverdale program, Jenn David, Founder/Co-Director of Providence, Vince Ricci, Director of Newman Summerbridge in New Orleans from 1994-1997. Then, in the summer of 1991, I was asked to return to San Francisco Summerbridge and serve on the Administrative Team, but had to decline the offer, as I was in the midst of a “what am I going to do with my life” crisis, having just graduated and aggressively seeking teaching positions. Another stroke of serendipity occurred when Lois (who had been trying to convince me to move to any number of cities to help start up new programs), put me in contact with Jay Altman one of the co-founders of the New Orleans (Newman) program. We had a phone interview, and then he invited me to visit the program. A month later, I was driving to New Orleans with all of my life’s possessions! What are you doing now? I am the Project Co-Director for the expansion of Summerbridge Miami through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants Program. We are partnering with Corpus Christi Catholic School, a K-8 parochial school in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami (mostly Latino/Hispanic but very diverse with about 35 ethnicities represented!) and with Liberty City Charter School—the first charter school in Florida—a K-6 grade school in a historically African-American neighborhood, Liberty City. My role is two-fold—to help shape the programs’ creative vision, and to make sure that the administrative aspects of the grant are coordinated—essentially figuring out how best to meet the objectives of the grant while injecting the values and vision of the Breakthrough Collaborative throughout all of the activities. Under the grant, we will oversee and support after-school programs that focus on literacy and academic skills, while also introducing students to the joys of drama, visual art, mural painting, photography, computer activities, poetry, athletics, and dance. In addition to the three Summerbridge/Breakthrough programs (which combined will serve 170 students and 52 teachers), we are coordinating and creating two summer school programs that will serve approximately 200-250 students in grades K-8. These programs are shaping up to be intense and innovative in their own way—with project-based experiential learning strands that are standards or skill-based and students doing interdisciplinary learning and field work. This is new for us at Summerbridge Miami because we are working with younger students for the first time—beginning with kindergarteners up through eighth graders. Fortunately, my Co-Director, Karen Liederman, brings almost 30 years of experience in early childhood education, having worked for over 25 years with Miami-Dade public schools and then at the Early Childhood Initiative (www.teachmorelovemore.org). Another aspect is that we will be doing much more with parents—rather than just focusing on parent involvement, we are establishing ways to do two or multi-generational learning…teaching, training, supporting and empowering parents to be change agents in their families, schools, and communities. The objectives of the grant are multiple—along with the academic focus of Summerbridge and year-round “community learning centers” for students and parents, we are also charged with improving awareness about health and nutrition, increasing computer literacy and the use of technology as a teaching tool, and addressing issues of character and citizenship. How has Summerbridge/Breakthrough changed your life? It has inspired me to be the best that I can be—as an educator, an administrator, a visionary, a motivator, and a leader. It has taught me volumes about schools, race and ethnicity, class and opportunity, and the resilience of students and families. Probably most importantly, it has given me a tangible, concrete alternative to the reality of inner-city education—and a model of hope and excellence that is driven by real people from diverse backgrounds working together. It has been the conduit to pull me into this “alternative” arena as far as education is concerned, and has brought me countless opportunities for growth, challenge and increased awareness of my own abilities and those of children, families, and communities. The program has given me six years of joy, friendships, surrogate grandmothers, adopted (part-time) kids, and a window into the lives of so many beautiful families. Why is the program important to you? Summerbridge/Breakthrough is important to me because it represents and values many of the same things that I do—diversity, creativity, hard work, ingenuity, compassion, community, optimism, humor, academic inquiry, and shared decision-making. It has been by my side for many of the critical formative years of my young adult life, and in many ways has shaped who I am today. From the years of 20 through 26 and again this past spring, Summerbridge and all of the people who work or have worked with the program (too many to name—from Richard Harris and Leila Esty in summer of 1990 to former directors from far and wide, to the “stars” in my eyes, Lynn, Tom, Tania and Lois—to the kids from my first summer Latoya, Keith, Amanda, Keena, Jennifer, Trinh, Teneshia and staff members Richmond, Marty, Arielle, Damon, Kibo, Dan and Rachel) have embraced me, laughed with me, kicked me in the butt when necessary, surprised me and made me proud, all through giving their energy, intelligence and warmth to the program (and I soaked a little up along the way).
Student, Summerbridge San Francisco Teacher, Summerbridge New Orleans and Summerbridge Louisville Founding Principal, Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant At the November 2003 Directors Conference, attending Directors were witness to an inspirational performance – and believe us, it was much more than just an ‘address’ or a ‘speech’, it was a performance – by former Summerbridge student and teacher, Jabali Sawicki. What is your history with Summerbridge/Breakthrough? I was a student in Summerbridge San Francisco at San Francisco University High School (SFUHS) from 1988 to 1991, and I also taught at Summerbridge programs in New Orleans, LA in 1995 and 1996 and Louisville, KY in 1999 and 2000. I was also admitted as a high school student at SFUHS, where I tutored at the Summerbridge after-school and Saturday programs. I learned infinite amounts from the Directors Lois Loofbourrow, Tom Malarkey, Matt Irvine and Tania Altamirano. Through my relationship with Summerbridge San Francisco, I was accepted into the prestigious Stuart Hall School for grades 7th and 8th before attending UHS. Ironically, I applied to be a teacher at the UHS program in the summer after my freshman year, but was not accepted due to the great amounts of maturity I still needed to undergo. I was raw, and perhaps too raw to lead the next generation of SB students. I had a lot of growing up to do and needed new challenges to push me to my limits and help me identify my true potential. Summerbridge at this point got me involved with the Summer Search program, where I was able to step well outside the boundaries of my comfort zone and really get down and dirty and find what was inside. The first summer I went to Maine, where I built a kayak and paddled 200 miles between coastal islands. The following summer I went backpacking in Alaska for six weeks. And the trip that changed me life and had an immediate and lasting impact on my life was my trip to the island of Western Samoa. How did Breakthrough/Summerbridge make a difference for you? Summerbridge did change my life in many ways, and has probably been the most important experience I have ever had. It challenged me. It pushed me, but most importantly it had faith in me and expected great things from me right from the beginning. It’s inspiring as a kid to spend time with adults that love you, respect you, and believe in you. It taught me how to create my own success. It taught me how to value my own gifts and talents. It taught me to be humble and how to work hard. It taught me that school could be fun. I found Summerbridge at a time in my life when I was searching for and craving positive role models and friends whom I could look up to for guidance and wisdom. Summerbridge was about relationships with people who were smarter and cooler than I was who introduced me to what I could and would become. The program also opened me up and exposed me to the power of education. I learned that as an African American male, I can be a scholar, and being a scholar is a powerful thing. I learned that knowledge is essential for my own development and the development of my and our community. The power of Summerbridge had as profound an impact on me as a teacher as it did as a student. As a student I was always amazed at how much I learned from my brilliant and inspirational teachers. As a teacher I was always amazed at the brilliance of my students who daily taught me something new about them, about the world, and about myself. What did you do after high school? After graduating from UHS, I went to Oberlin College, where I studied Biology and Philosophy. It was during this time that I taught in New Orleans and Louisville. During my senior year, while traveling in Zanzibar I was sitting in an Internet café where I had just received news that I didn’t get a fellowship that I had applied for. I immediately emailed my previous director in SB New Orleans, explaining my predicament (about to graduate with no employment plans) and asking for some advice on where to look. She told me about a job at a new charter school in Boston, MA, at Roxbury Preparatory School, where Evan Rudall, my former Director at Summerbridge Louisville was the founding Principal. After extensive interviews, I was offered a job as a science teacher. I taught at Roxbury for three years and loved every minute of it. I’ve moved on, but will never forget those amazing students, families and teachers. In fact I just went back for a surprise visit to celebrate Kwanzaa with all of them. What are you doing now? While living and teaching in Roxbury, a wonderful opportunity to found an all boys elementary charter school in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn came up. Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant will open in the fall of 2004, and I will be the founding Principal. The school prepares our students to succeed at the highest levels, and enter, succeed in, and graduate from the finest high schools and colleges. The focus will be on academics and character development. The school will open with 88 Kindergarten and 1st graders and will add a class each year to reach full capacity at 470 students. I have always wanted to be in a school that is like Summerbridge all year round. Now I have that opportunity! For more information about Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant please call (212) 844-3584. We are currently looking for Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers.
Joel Vargas "I first became involved
with Breakthrough when I was 12 years old and participated as a
student in the summer program. At that time I was about to enter
the 7th grade, but I wasn't able to write a correct and complete
English sentence. That summer I received wonderful teaching in all
the academic subjects but the one that stood out most for me was
English. Breakthrough taught me how to write. Later during the academic
year, my teacher Michael showed me the nuts and bolts of writing
and pushed me to do comparative and creative writing. Every day
was a new challenge. The small classes forced me to participate
and speak my mind, something that I rarely had to do at "regular"
school. For four years, during high school, I taught as a Breakthrough teacher. I wanted to give back to the program. I wanted to help kids in the same way that my teachers had helped me. The experience was truly rewarding. There was the satisfaction of helping someone succeed, the challenge of being charged with an incredible amount of responsibility and the camaraderie of working as a group with the other young teachers. I have been a Breakthrough student, teacher and director. In each of these roles I have been challenged and rewarded. Today I have a passion to make the education system more equitable, a passion that was instilled in me at Breakthrough." Joel went on from directing Breakthrough to earn
his doctorate in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education
and remains committed to preparing underrepresented students for
higher education. He currently works with the Early College High
School Initiative, examining and advocating for district and state
policies that enable schools to integrate high school and college.
In 2004, he co-edited the book, Double the Numbers: Increasing Postsecondary
Credentials for Underrepresented Youth edited by Richard Kazis,
Joel Vargas, and Nancy Hoffman and published by Harvard Education
Press. He was recently featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education
as one of “Higher Education's Next Generation of Thinkers.”
Former Breakthrough Fort Worth Student Clorese applied to Breakthrough in Fort Worth in 1996, when she was a sixth grade student at Daggett Middle School. She applied to the program so she'd have "something more to do than watch television all summer." After two years with Breakthrough, Clorese applied to college-prep high school programs and chose to attend the Dunbar High School of Science and Engineering Professions. Now a senior, Clorese is a Drum Major for Dunbar's marching band, sings in the Varsity Choir, plays soccer, participates in National Honor Society activities, and is active with her church's youth group. In addition, Clorese continues to participate in Breakthrough activities and maintain the friendships that began in middle school. She visited colleges with Breakthrough, tutored younger students in the after-school program, and sang "Amazing Grace" as a solo at the Breakthrough Director's wedding. This year, Clorese taught at Breakthrough's summer session. "Teaching at Breakthrough, and volunteering in the community, is a way to give back all the things I've gotten. Also, being a teacher helped me understand what teachers go through to prepare for classes." Clorese plans to major in Music Education so she can teach band and choir at the high school level. "Music is such a large part of my life. It's a way to express myself. I want to share those feelings." Her college choices include Texas Christian University, Kansas State University, and Louisiana State University.
Former Summerbridge Houston Teacher What role have you had with Breakthrough/Summerbridge? In 2003, I was a math teacher for seventh grade students at Summerbridge Houston where I also taught an elective called "Elite Sounds of Harmony.” I was a very demanding teacher and I made it clear to my students on the first day that there are no victims in my classroom. I was ecstatic about my experience with the program. How did Breakthrough Collaborative/Summerbridge make a difference for you? Breakthrough changed my life in many ways. Teaching these children, who were much like me, was one of the most phenomenal things I have ever done. I quickly realized that I was taking part in the transformation of many students' lives. I’ve always been interested in education, however, getting an opportunity to actually teach, helped me to realize that this is the career path for me. What are you doing now? I am currently a first-year student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where I am working towards a double major in Music Education and Vocal Performance. As the President of the Fine Arts Community, I oversee two major residence halls, promote community standards and ensure that the voices of my residents are heard. I am also a member of the Texas Music Educator's Association and I just returned from South Africa where I performed a principal role in the opera Porgy and Bess by George and Ira Gershwin. Why is the program important to you? Breakthrough is one of the best educational programs in the nation - it helps students to have more confidence, hope and pride in themselves. I am a firm believer that we are not judged by how hard we fall, but by how high we continue to rise after falling. Several parents have told me what a positive influence I’ve had on their children. One of my former students who wasn’t familiar with classical music before the program, has joined his school choir and walks around his house singing opera.
Bo Menkiti
Rhea
Wong What is your history with Breakthrough/Summerbridge? When I was in public middle school in San Francisco, my mother’s friend had a son who went through the Summerbridge program at University High School (UHS). I was doing very well academically and socially at my school, but my mother didn’t feel that I was receiving the academic rigor and challenge that I needed. After much foot-dragging and whining about having to go to school over the summer, I attended the UHS interview day and I was hooked! I distinctly remember taking an entry test that featured a description of Mrs. Flowers in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Since I’d already read the book on my own, I was naturally eager to show off how much I knew about it ad nauseum. I think I filled up both sides of the page that we were given and asked for another sheet. After a lengthy interview and orientation, I was accepted and thus began my long affiliation with Breakthrough/Summerbridge. What roles have you had with the organization? Currently, I am the Recruitment and Alumni Manager at Breakthrough’s National Office where my primary responsibilities were to recruit teachers for our summer programs nationwide. As of Sept. 2005, I will be the Executive Director for Summerbridge at the Town School, a Breakthrough Program. How did the program change your life? It’s difficult to know how to answer this question because Breakthrough/Summerbridge has been such an integral part of my life. As a student, I found a natural peer group among academically motivated kids without feeling socially ostracized or labeled as a “nerd.” Also, my experience with the program broadened the horizons of what I conceived as possible in my education by igniting a genuine passion for learning, by exposing me to people from diverse backgrounds and by opening pathways to educational opportunities. Surely, without Breakthrough/Summerbridge, I would not have gone on to an independent boarding school, which opened so many doors for me. Later, as a teacher, I realized how the program affects change and empowers young people as leaders. That perspective humbled and enriched my experience as both a learner and a teacher. I found that I could take what I had learned as a teacher and apply it directly to my experience as a student during the school year. On a far more abstract level, I credit Breakthrough/Summerbridge with igniting a passion for educational excellence and social justice. The program is about making the seemingly impossible possible and the idealistic realistic. Without seeing how magic happens when students teach students, I would never be as hopeful and optimistic as I am now. I thank Breakthrough/Summerbridge for giving me, and everyone else who has ever touched the program, a sense of what is possible when people care. What did you do after high school? After high school, I was awarded a scholarship through the English Speaking Union to live in London for a year as a student. After that, I attended McGill University in Montréal, Canada and received an honors degree in Political Science. Although I was headed towards a career path in journalism, my experience as a teacher never left me. In the summer of 2001, I interned with UNICEF Ethiopia and worked with street children in six different Ethiopian cities. Working with children who have nothing in this world fundamentally affected me and reminded me that every child deserves and should receive a chance to bloom and succeed. Education is merely one pathway that I chose to address this injustice. What are you doing now? I feel incredibly lucky to have a job that speaks deeply to my passion and beliefs. I work with talented, enthusiastic former teachers at over 100 campuses across the country to recruit the next generation of Breakthrough teachers. We seek the best and brightest young people who are ready and willing to push and to educate our students to achieve their full potential. We spend untold time and energy into carefully recruiting and selecting young people who are worthy of being called Breakthrough teachers. Why is the program important to you? My involvement with Breakthrough is the single most important experience of my life. The most dedicated, warm-hearted, funny, generous, intelligent, hard-working, passionate leaders and learners are found here. We challenge each other, we support each other, we teach each other and we learn from each other. We believe in each other, we respect each other and we have the highest expectations of each other. We love each other. We not only provide a model for how education should be; we provide a model for how the world should be.
Breakthrough Teachers Remain Connected
to Education and Service
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
» Back to Top © Breakthough Collaborative, All Rights Reserved. 545 Sansome Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94111. P: (415) 442-0600 F: (415) 442-0609 Email: info@breakthroughcollaborative.org. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
