VP Jenny Krugman

Originally planned to be a four-week summer program in 1997, Furman University’s Bridges to a Brighter Future has been transforming lives for almost 12 years.  Named as this year’s Johns Hopkins Excellence in Summer Learning Award winner, Bridges has evolved beyond the dreams of a Greenville, S.C., philanthropist who endowed the program into a model of academic and personal change for the students who come into its care.

Of the 85 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch who interviewed for the program, 30 were selected to participate beginning in the summer of their rising 10th-grade year. Graduates in the high school class of 2011 have joined their 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade Bridges peers.  Bridges students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in high school. All students have graduated from high school or earned diploma equivalency, and more than 90 percent have enrolled in college. Nearly every Bridges graduate has enrolled in either college or military service. 
  
Director Tobi Swartz lifts the curtain as the students on her academic “stage” attend summer programs where they live on campus, connect with university faculty and local Greenville Public School AP® teachers, and engage in constant mentoring and tutoring. The racial and ethnic makeup of Bridges students reflects the nation’s diversity, with 34 percent African American, 29 percent Hispanic, 27 percent white, 7 percent Asian and 3 percent multiracial. All Bridges students have a household income of $35,000 or less, and 81 percent have a household income of less than $25,000.

“Here comes summer” might have been the early call at Bridges; however, the program has evolved into a nearly full-time “readiness for life” odyssey.  A heavy infusion of math and science and healthy doses of art, social studies and English are the fare that brings Greenville’s students from low-income backgrounds into the mainstream of college access, resulting in “Men of Honor” and “Ladies of Distinction.” College success is another benefit.

Given the tools to succeed in many South Carolina postsecondary institutions, Swartz’s students devote time and energy to community service, college planning, “speak outs” and “ropes” assignments in a three-year gauntlet that gets students ready to take on college life. Gusto, competence and college completion are the rewards. Students can attend colleges anywhere, but they tend to stay close to their Palmetto State home. Thus far, most remain in South Carolina.

North Carolina’s Elon University decided to replicate Bridges on its campus, and other universities are engaged in similar programs due, in part, to their involvement in our College Board CollegeKeys Compact™ program. Bridges joins its summer program with what it calls Saturday College. These sessions bring intensity and focus to all participating students.

Transformation is the key. One program graduate, now a student at University of South Carolina Upstate, wrote, “Bridges took me from an insecure boy to a confident man.” Visit the Bridges Web site to capture the experience.

On her second day on the job, Deborah Shepard, educational manager for the College Board’s Florida Partnership, paid a visit to Wakulla High School in Crawfordville, just about 20 miles from Tallahassee. For Shepard, the school made an immediate impression as having a clear vision of what they wanted for their students. “I felt an almost palpable energy flowing at all levels,” describes Shepard, “from the students to the teachers to the administrators and on up to the district level where Beth O’Donnell, Wakulla County assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and former AP® teacher, guides the county’s efforts to increase rigor and academic preparation for all of its students.”

O’Donnell was appointed to her position 15 years ago by Wakulla Superintendent David Miller and charged with improving the success rates of Wakulla High School’s students. Both Miller and O’Donnell are strong supporters of Advanced Placement® and the College Board’s Florida Partnership, and their efforts are building an AP program at Wakulla High School that is quickly becoming a model for many others throughout the state and nation. The program’s success is also due to the efforts of WHS principal, Mike Crouch, and Sunny Chancy, his assistant principal for curriculum and also a former AP teacher.

Before 2000-01, no AP courses were offered at Wakulla High School. In the 2009-10 academic year, 10 AP courses will be offered, including Art History and Environmental Science. Enrollment numbers in AP courses for next year are expected to at least double if not increase fourfold for some subjects. For example, AP English Language and Composition has 13 students currently enrolled, but 57 students have already signed up for it for next year. 

In October 2008, the College Board Florida Partnership provided PSAT/NMSQT® testing for all ninth- and 11th-graders, while the state funded the 10th-graders. As a result, teachers and counselors are using the results and AP Potential™ to identify and encourage more students to take AP courses next year. The school held two parent information nights to accommodate the large attendance, but both events were standing room only. All rising ninth-graders from the two feeder middle schools were brought in on two different school days to learn about the strong academic programs available to them. This summer, 28 percent of the faculty will be attending AP Summer Institutes through funding provided by the Florida Partnership. 

Wakulla High School’s eight-member AP team attended the College Board’s Florida Partnership Leadership Colloquium this past January. Shepard remembers, “Those team members, led by Beth O’Donnell and Sunny Chancy, create an energy that is truly a force to be reckoned with. I feel it every time I visit the school, receive a phone call or read an e-mail from them; the electrons crackle through the air.”

In an informal survey, attendees at the Southern Regional Forum rated highest in importance their interactions with colleagues from across the region and the valuable information gained from the sessions.

The surveys were distributed at College Board President Gaston Caperton’s plenary sessions at each forum and were designed to collect feedback about the forum, particularly in today’s difficult economic climate. About 80 people at the New England Regional Forum completed the survey.

“It is affirming to see how much our members value the forums and in-person meetings,” said Mary Carroll Scott, vice president of membership. “The question for us is, how do we accomplish that effective communication and professional development in difficult economic times, when it’s all the more important to share ideas.”

Nationwide, attendance at the regional forums was down from 2008, with many people saying the economy was hindering opportunities to travel and attend professional development programs.

Southern participants also strongly agreed in large numbers that the quality of the regional forum presentations is high and that they use the information to improve their work.

In related research conducted through an e-mail survey, more than 60 percent of respondents indicated that the workshops and sessions are what primarily draw them to the regional forums. About 30 percent said interaction with colleagues is their primary motivation.

Two sessions that respondents found the most valuable were “Ethical Issues in College Admissions” and “Ninth Grade Transition to High School.”

The luncheon with keynote speaker Da Chen was particularly popular, with 94 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied or very satisfied by it.

Click here to see events and workshops in the Southern Region.