End of September

On our last day at the school in September, we held a workshop about war in a class, had a collage-making session in Art Club after school, and continued talking to many, many students.

In October, our schedule will be packed with activities for seniors, as they prepare to for life after high school. We are emphasizing college access, as we have scheduled an SAT registration party and SAT preparation workshops, in addition to workshops about applying to college we will offer in the next couple of months. Also in the works are a series of study skills workshops and a lunchtime conversation group. Keep posted for further details.

Yesterday after school

One of the busiest times of the day for us is the two-hour period after the school day ends. In the past, most students visited us during lunch, since they had to work after school. Nowadays, many of them also stay after their classes are over to do homework, get help, and hang out.

Yesterday, 3 o'clock rolled by and we were mobbed as usual. Students were working on English and physical science homework, filling out SAT registration forms, and using the computers. Five of us--three mentors, a volunteer, and I--went around the room and talked to students.

Usually, things calm down by 4, but not yesterday. During our second hour, students kept right on working. A game of Guess Who started in the corner, while two students had a discussion about Chinese and Spanish. All of us remained busy, busy, busy.

Our program closes at 5. At 4:55, many students were still hard at work. "Time to go home," we said. "We don't want to leave!" they said. "Can we stay here all the time?" But it was time to go for the day. We will see them again this afternoon.

Tour of the Bridging Cultures room

Here are some pictures of our classroom in a (rare!) quiet moment.


Students come to our room to study, do homework, and get answers for any questions they have about school, college, and jobs.



Students also come to our room to practice their English, read, chat, play games, relax, and have fun.



Students use the computers in the room to work on essays and projects, check their e-mail, browse the Internet, or even to learn how to type.



Thank you for visiting our classroom!

First meeting of Art Club

Yesterday was the first meeting of our newly launched Art Club. After school, Mary and a group of students gathered around a table to make personal logos. Their designs featured their first initials and symbols of their lives.

The club was a success! For over an hour, students created their own unique and colorful brands. The club will meet again the following Thursday, and we expect even more students to show up this time.

A vignette

Two Pakistanis, two Americans, a Vietnamese, and a mentor sitting around a coffee table playing Uno and laughing together at lunch.

We always like to see this kind of cooperative fun in our room.

Second week of school

On Monday, all of the mentors started going into classrooms to work with students. Each week, teachers can request that mentors visit their rooms, and right away, three teachers asked for mentors for a total of 22 periods this week.

We see many students in our own room, but when we go into other classrooms, we get a broader cross-section of the population. Many of them are new to the school, and after seeing us in their classes, they visit us when they are not in class as well. Many more students are coming to see us to chat or to get help with homework, especially after school.

Meanwhile, we continue to put our room in good shape. Our balloons and streamers from the party last week are still up, and we've been filling up our bulletin board with announcements, white boards for the students to write on, and a suggestion box. We've also gotten some new games in the room, like Uno and Scrabble. So far, Guess Who? is a big hit.

Our programming schedule starts tomorrow with Art Club.

Welcome back party

Yesterday, we kicked off the school year by throwing a big welcome back party in our classroom after school. We put fliers up in the hallway, hung balloons and streamers around the room, and got plenty of refreshments, including a delicious buttercream cake from Melrose Diner.

We had a great time. A few dozen students, teachers and school staff came, and we all ate and chatted and had fun. What a way to hold our first event and end the first week of school. We have some more plans in the works...

First day of school

Today was the first day for the students at the high school. We had been preparing to relaunch our program for the last several weeks, so it was a delight to get started with the school year.

We spent the day busy with various tasks: talking to students and teachers, preparing our bulletin board, distributing flyers for our Welcome Back party this Wednesday, and generally getting everything in order. Seeing all the familiar faces of our students after two months of summer vacation was the best part.

This is going to be a terrific school year.