TeachBreakthroughs

Jamie hasn’t posted on TeachBreakthroughs before, but she sent the letter below to Lois Loofbourrow after they met this summer.  Lois sent it to me, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you.

Dear Lois,

This summer was an amazing experience for me all around. Teaching English was really amazing, and made me realize what a passion that I had for teaching in general. I was totally amazed by all of my students. Each and every student had taught me something new, and I was consistently impressed by their quality of work and enthusiasm. In fact, I think that I have learned as much from them that they have learned from me, if not more.

These past eight weeks have flown by, and even though lesson plans and nearly-constant observations loomed forever on the horizon, this has been one of the most amazing experiences that I have had the pleasure of being involved in in my entire life. It was so rewarding, seeing the students grow, and change over the short six weeks that they were with us. I realize now that I would have done things differently, had I known that our time with them would have been this short. Overall, I feel that these six weeks have taught me more than any semester-long Education course ever could have.

I was so glad to have been chosen for this grand social experiment. My friends are all shocked when I told them that I taught this summer, and yet is seems to natural. The word “Teacher” rolls off of the tongue now. Oh, what a short eight weeks can do.

In short, I am changed for the better from this summer at Breakthrough Miami. I know that I’ve come a long way, and I hope that my students have come just as long as I have. Thank you for creating this amazaing program. This has been an awesome summer, and I hope to maybe return again next year.

Sincerely,

Jamie Pflug
English Teacher
Breakthrough Miami
Summer of 2008

Fall plans:
Continuing with my Economics and International Studies majors (junior year of college). Unfortunately not working with the SYP (too far a commute), but tutoring some facilities workers in English on campus. My experience in Hong Kong, where the focus of the program is English language acquisition, will certainly help me with my tutoring, and it will help me give suggestions to other tutors. I am more used to explaining things visually, orally, and kinesthetically, which will certainly help my “tutees” learn.

This summer in Summerbridge pushed me more strongly in the direction of wanting to do something “big picture” oriented after graduation, perhaps in the fields of policy or philanthropy, because I realized that what motivated me most during Summerbridge was my feeling that I was part of a larger project working toward social betterment.

I’ve had a lot of success this summer. I made connections with my students in a way that I hope showed them how much support and genuine caring they can find in the program. I collaborated with faculty members and made some valuable friends. My previous summer with the San Francisco site, I learned some important lessons in commitment and responsibility, and this summer I got to see myself put those lessons into action. I feel so grateful to have been able to witness the growth of the older students in the program as well as my own personal growth. My summer with Breakthrough has given me much confidence as my second year of university approaches. I will be taking an internship at the Women’s Center on campus to further my growth and development. Working with Breakthrough this summer showed me that I am fully capable of achieving great heights, and now I really look forward to all that the future has in store. Thanks everyone!

My change of heart came in the middle of my sophomore year when I realized that I was not interested in law school, but rather graduate school for education. I am just beginning a year away from my home campus, Smith College, to study education at Penn and to take a few courses in the Graduate School of Education in order to feel it out before it comes time to apply next fall. We have just completed the first week of classes, and already I have made reference to my Breakthrough experience. As an undergraduate I have something in common with masters and even doctoral students who spent time in the classroom before returning to school. I have also been able to give meaning to theoretical discussions and to better analyze them for practicability. Because Penn is located in West Philadelphia, an inner city neighborhood, I also have the opportunity to continue working with inner city youth both through my classes and volunteer opportunities. For me, working with and getting to know kids is the foundation of my desire to study education, and Breakthrough certainly proved that to me this summer.

This fall is no different than any other in terms of what I want to do and how I want to go about achieving those goals. Now, what has changed is my whole persona. The kids from Breakthrough have only intensified my fortitude to become what seemed like a fairy tale dream before I met them. I always dreamt of becoming a successful lawyer and eventually representing my state in the Senate but the effort it takes to obtain such a status is what seemed to always cloud my vision. I had the determination but I was dreading the work that would test my drive. Now, it seems like the road is clear. I can see the path ahead of me.

I am willing to work. In fact, I welcome the challenge because I know that it will only make me stronger. I truly owe this new found strength of mind to “my kids.” Now, I have another reason to make it.

I have to achieve my goals to first and foremost, show them it can be done and secondly, advocate on their behalf in a Washington that seems to have their interest on the back burner. I walked into those Norfolk Academy doors destined for greatness but I walked out destined for greatness along with an imperative purpose. I owe it all to them.

Having the opportunity to work as a History Department Chair at Summerbridge Program in Boca Raton.

Overall, I was most impressed with these young people who already know which careers they want to pursue. At such young ages, they are determined to accomplish what they want in life. During this summer, I engaged my students in many debates, such as, presidential elections, global warming and ozone layer depletion, right to bear arms, and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. They frequently amazed me with the way the articulated and defended their view points.

Thanks
Adriana

Celebration at Summerbridge Hong Kong is similar to Celebration in Cambridge (and, I imagine, elsewhere in the U.S.) in that it is all about having the students perform and show what they have learned over the summer. Many of the elements are the same: two student speeches, one teacher speech, performances by classes, etc. The mood is also similar: mostly celebratory and proud, with some sadness that the summer is over.

I sensed that in Hong Kong the mood was a little more emotional than it was in Cambridge last summer. There was a lot more crying and hugging, and many students and teachers were just really sad that the summer was over, more than they were happy about how good the summer had been.

For me, Celebration was a happy time. My overwhelming feeling was pride in my students’ accomplishments, in knowing that they were doing things they could not have done five weeks prior. This feeling was much stronger than any sadness I might have felt. I was not so sad; I was proud and happy. Kudos to the students and staff for your Summerbridge spirit all summer long!

–Ezra
Cambridge ‘07, Hong Kong ‘08

From Adriana in Boca Raton:

Hi, Bobby:

I attached a picture of the SB 2008 Cup winners.  I was very excited because they are six graders and won five of the six events in this competition. They were my family (Family E). I promised them that I was going to submit this picture.

Family E:
Gabriel, Emma, Eduardo, Wadlyne, Patrick, Chloe, Hilda, Nikki, Xiona, Juan, Ivan and Angelo.

Sincerely,
Adriana Guerra

Wow!  6th grade cup champions.  Impressive!

It’s hard to believe that Breakthrough is over for the summer. The last week was very stressful because in addition to planning the last few classes, I was on Celebration committee. Throughout it all, though, I really learned how supportive and amazing all of the teachers are and I realized how lucky I am to work with such wonderful people (not that I hadn’t already known this). I loved watching my students work on their final projects and impress me once again with their creativity and determination to succeed. What really amazes me about the last week of the program, both last year and this year, is how upset the students get when they have to leave Breakthrough for the last time. It’s really unbelievable that despite the hours of homework we give them and the fact that they have to work so hard all summer, the students are so sad to see it all end. On Friday, our last day, one of our fifth graders was sobbing all through lunch and I started thinking that it’s really incredible to see how much Breakthrough means to these kids. On Saturday, Celebration finally came, and it went perfectly. I loved talking with some of the parents and watching the presentations, but I definitely did not enjoy saying goodbye to the kids (and saying goodbye to the teachers a few days later). It’s so difficult to be around the same group of people for 6 weeks straight and then abruptly say goodbye, knowing that I may not see a lot of these people again, or at least not in the near future. Even though it’s only been a few days since Celebration, the students have started emailing the teachers saying that they miss us, which is so sweet and makes me miss them even more. This was definitely a summer I’ll never forget!

~Lauren