Moravian Academy
|
|
The Best Thing About
|
|
|
The Program
Lehigh Valley Summerbridge (LVS) is a free, non-profit, enrichment program designed to assist predominantly low income students from nine different middle schools in the Lehigh Valley in their quest to become a college student. These students, comprised of both genders, a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds, and multilingual speakers are likely to be first generation college attendees and graduates. Rising seventh grade students voluntarily apply to the program; their applications are reviewed during a rigorous screening process, and once accepted, students commit to two full years in the program. Accepted students attend two six week summer programs - one prior to seventh grade and one prior to eighth grade - as well as twice a month school-year sessions, which include academic sessions and special field trips to the movies, bowling, skyzone, lazer tag, hiking, and an IronPigs games
|
|
The TeachersTeachers in this program are aspiring professional educators mostly attending colleges in the Lehigh Valley, including Lehigh University, Moravian College, DeSales University, Cedar Crest College, and Muhlenberg College. Students are organized into core teams that have four teachers and approximately 20 students. Each core team is comprised of a math, science, literature, and writing or college prep/life skills teacher. Each department is overseen by a master teacher, a veteran teacher, often a past Summerbridge teacher, who observes each teacher in the department. Each teacher is responsible for his or her core subject as well as co-teaching an elective and a club. Each teacher also joins a committee to help plan special events like Celebration, Olympics, and trips.
|
|
The StudentsFor many students in the Easton, Allentown, and Bethlehem school districts, a lack of resources means that college is not an option. The approximately 100 students enrolled in this program each year, while generally lacking resources, demonstrate academic potential and recognize the importance of education and its potential to improve the quality of their lives.
Summerbridge students make a significant sacrifice to attend this program. While many of their peers are enjoying time off of school and summertime activities, Summerbridge students are attending math, science, literature, writing, and life skills classes. They are painting, taking photographs, performing dances and plays, performing experiments, and doing homework. Many students ride the bus an hour each way in order to attend. These students, quite simply, are amazing. |
|
VolunteersDuring the summer, we also take on volunteers to help us with daily activities and to provide extra help in the classroom. Our volunteers are Summerbridge graduates who are looking to give back to our program. Having former Summerbridge students come back to help with the program is something that we strive to continue to do. We are able to provide opportunities for these students to continue their educations through access to our teachers and to get some teaching experience in the classroom. In turn, these students give back to our program, making it richer for those that come after them. We are also working to provide prep for these volunteers on the college search process.
|
|
College Bound
At Summerbridge, we strive to prepare our students for college. Each core team adopts a local college for the summer and learns about that college. Each summer, we provide two college trips for each student. In our first round, we take students to Northampton Community College, Lehigh Carbon Community College, and Penn State Lehigh Valley. On the second round, each core team visits its own college. These have included Lehigh, Moravian, Lafayette, Muhlenberg, Kutztown, and DeSales. Bringing our students to college campuses not only gives them a chance to see college life, it also gives them a head start on learning how to search for the college that is right for them and what questions they need to ask.
|
|
Where Do We Come From,
|
|
Teachers
|
Students
|
Discovery and Differentiated LearningAt Summerbridge, we strive to teach creative and meaningful lessons. Many of our students get lost in their regular classrooms and thrive in a more creative and smaller classroom environment. We encourage our teachers to create out-of-the-box lesson plans that engage students in discovery learning. We promote teaching students self-sufficiency, teamwork, critical thinking, and analytical skills. We also encourage our teachers to take students on field trips outside the classroom and bring in outside speakers. Past trips have included the Bethlehem Steel Mill, historic Bethlehem sites, The Morning Call, The Cops N Kids reading room, Allentown Art Museum, Iron Pigs Stadium, Martin Guitar, Apartment hunting, the Good Will for thrifting, police stations, and a forensic unit.
|
|
Community ServiceLehigh Valley Summerbridge is a community program and would not exist without the support of Moravian Academy or the local community. In an effort to give back to the Lehigh Valley, students at Summerbridge participate in community service during the summer. During the summer of 2013 and 2014, we focused our efforts on running a book drive for another local non-profit, Cops N Kids. Throughout the summer, our students and teachers were able to collect over 5000 books to donate to this program, which in turn, provides books to disadvantaged youth in the Lehigh Valley. We have also begun collecting books to start our own Summerbridge book room that would provide free books to our students, their families, and our teachers.
|
|
Daily Schedule - Summer
|
|
What We Do For Our Students
|
|
What We Do For Our Teachers
|
|
