Text Box: down their thoughts about the program as a whole, and the responses were overwhelming. “Best experience ever! I am so anxious to go back next year! Whatever you have in store for us next year I am sure I will love it!” Another student stated, “I really enjoyed my summer at Bridges. I don’t feel like I became friends with anyone, but a family with everyone. I never knew it was possible for 70 or more different teenagers to come together, and show SO much love for one another.” All told, this year was smashing success! Text Box: At the end of every summer, each student is asked to complete an evaluation of their experience. It’s official-Bridges to a Brighter Future 2006 was one of the best years in the programs history! Everything seemed to click this summer; from the great behavior of the students and the awesome counselor staff to the dynamic teachers in the classroom and the informative college visits, this summer was simply great, and the students agree! A majority of the students thought that morning assembly was the best it has ever been. Furthermore, all of the academic classes received high marks from the students. For example, one student said of the Social Studies class: “Social Studies is always the best and I ALWAYS learn things I missed at school and didn’t understand well”. The Bridges classroom Text Box: also helps change students’ minds about the core academic subjects. When commenting on Ms. Turza’s Forensic Science class, one student said “I’ve never liked science and fell in love with it this summer!” This sort of praise was universal, with students gaining a new appreciation for subjects they didn’t like in school. The field trips and weekend activities were also a hit, with ice skating, bowling and community service all scoring high with the students. One of the best things that happened this year was our exceptional staff of counselors, who really bonded and identified with the diverse array of students at Bridges (for more on one of the counselors, see Page 3). The students agreed: “They were funny, nice, kind and helpful and I enjoyed seeing them every day.” Finally, the students got to put down Text Box: It’s official: Bridges 2006 a success! Text Box: Working at the car wash! Text Box: Last summer, the Bridges students requested to have a Text Box: car wash to raise money for the program. This year, instead of one location with some of the students, we decided to have a car wash with all three classes at three locations all over Greenville! The locations were divided by class: the Kappa class used a KFC, the Iotas used a Burger King and the Thetas used a Chick-fil-A. Text Box: Competition was fierce but fun, with everyone working as hard as they could. At the end of the day, the Iota class won the contest, but everyone involved won-the students raised 1000 dollars to help pay for the Bridges bowling night! It was a really great end to a really great day. Text Box: Furman university Office of continuing education

The e-connector

Volume 1, Issue 1

Bridges to a brighter future

Saturday
college

2

Randy Mathena-

Helping bridges grow

2

The Graham
Foundation

2

Casey crisp-

From student to counselor

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to:

· Publix

· The Metropolitan Arts Council

· Stewart Spinks

· Greenville County  Bar Association

· Foothills Rotary Club

· Sheldon Early

· SACAC

· Jim and Lee Foster

· Sheila Manchester

· Larry Seay