September's theme: Education and Schools

Early this month, we decided that we would have a theme for every month. We plan to use these themes extensively in the activities that we do with students. Since September marks the beginning of the academic year, this month's theme is Education and Schools.

The theme is on display in many places in our classroom. We've posted education-related quotations on walls all around the room. On one bulletin board, we display a Question of the Week, to which students can write a response to pin on the board. Questions so far have included "Do you like wearing school uniforms? Why or why not?" and "What would you like to change about school?" On another bulletin board, we've posted a number of vocabulary words relevant to the school. Students are welcome to write the words in their language for other students to see.

Our weekly clubs started last week, and we've incorporated the themes in a number of them. The English Conversation, Reading, and Music Clubs all included a discussion of what it is like to be a student and how students experience schools. Other clubs that have begun include Art Club, Music Club, and our new Drama Club.

Finally, we had a couple of college-related activities. We held an afterschool workshop for students to register for the SAT. This weekend, the Philadelphia National College Fair also came to town, and we took a number of students there. They enjoyed learning about their options for higher education and meeting representatives from many different colleges.

As September draws to a close, we're looking forward to October's theme of Family. We'll be starting with a pair of holiday workshops this Thursday.

Classes and clubs

Our classroom is open to students when they are not in class. So what do we do when they are? We pay them a visit.

This week, all of the mentors started going into classes at the invitation of teachers. Each of the classes is matched with a mentor, and the mentor and teacher will then plan and collaborate together. All of the ESOL teachers had requested a mentor in at least one class, so we have the opportunity to work with many different students in many different settings. Soon, we will also start working with subject-area teachers.

Next week, we will start our clubs and events. We have many clubs during lunchtime and after school, including the continuation of our art, English conversation, math, and reading clubs. We are also starting several exciting new clubs, focusing on citizenship, drama, music, and science. We'll also have a workshop to help students register for the SAT and a trip to the national college fair next weekend.

The first week of school

Project Bridging Cultures is now back in action. Starting on the first day, our classroom has been open, and we had our welcome back party on Tuesday.

So far, we've seen dozens of kids in our room that we worked with last year. They are already hard at work:
















Next week, we'll start visiting students in their classrooms. We'll also be expanding to Friday mornings! More to follow.

School begins!

September is here and we are ready to relaunch our program again. We've got three returning mentors--Steve, Oumar, and Mary--and we've also found two terrific new ones, Said and Toni.

We spent the last week training here at the office. In addition to discussing the program and the mentor role, we also had Sara talk about working with English language learners, Pete discuss proficiency levels and standards for working with such learners, and Ginny do a first aid refresher with us. Steve and Mary also led discussions on immigrant youth, potential workshops and field trips, conflict resolution, and situations that mentors may encounter with students.

Several of us also spent some time this week setting up our classroom at the school. It was great to see many familiar faces among the school faculty and staff. We're looking forward to seeing the students tomorrow on the first day of school.