Lehigh Valley Summerbridge is an organization that serves underprivileged middle school students in the Lehigh Valley. Summerbridge's goal is to provide students with education instruction that will help those students to succeed in college tracked classes in middle and high school. Summerbridge also seeks to help aspiring teachers who attend local colleges for education degrees.
Who does this organization help and why?
Summerbridge helps underprivileged Lehigh Valley students, their parents and guardians, and aspiring young teachers. While high income families are able to send their children to summer camps and educational programing, low income families are rarely able to send their children to summer programs, particularly educational enrichment programs. Many times, these families do not speak English and/or were not education in American schools, putting those families at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding how American schools operate. Summerbridge seeks to level the playing field by offering these students and families opportunities to learn over the summer and during the school year.
How do they help?
For each enrolled 7th grade student, Summerbridge includes two 6-week summer programs and once a week, year round tutoring. During the summer, Summerbridge provides Government sponsored breakfast and lunch to students. Summerbridge classes consist of math, science, literature, writing, electives, homework time, and club time, giving students the opportunity for extra help in those subjects. Summerbridge also performs community service and has a variety of free field trips throughout the school year for its students.
What elements of their organization do you think you might want to emulate in your own project and why?
The best part of this organization is that no one in it is wasted. Students and teachers are being educated in this program. Oftentimes, the teachers attend Lehigh Valley colleges, meaning they will perform their student teaching experience in the Lehigh Valley, giving back to those students in their regular classrooms. Students are introduced to new ways of learning and are celebrated for their creativity. Also, the small class sizes allow teachers to really know students and offer specialized help or educational intervention.
I would love to emulate this model in my organization. I want to make sure that there is incentive to join and remain a part of the organization. I want to make sure that the educators in my program not only perform a valuable service, but also learn in the process.