Bridges Area Learning Center
Weekly Reflections
Dear Team,
One of the many things I love about education is the new beginnings throughout each year. At-risk students especially appreciate and need these times as events in their lives or struggles they have personally can often hinder progress in their education. If students know that there is hope and opportunity they often will continue despite major obstacles that may be in the way. We recently started a new quarter and second semester. This time has many new opportunities for our current students, former students and staff! We have accepted 12 new students to our school bringing our total enrollment to just over 100. Emma (now a former Bridges student!), finished her graduation requirements and now is looking at a major new beginning being done with high school! We also welcome Dylan to our staff as our paraprofessional starting here at Bridges as his new beginning. Cory who was a part of our team is staring his new beginnings in a teaching capacity and head coach. We are excited to see Cory move on but sad it is a path with out us at Bridges. We also are excited to see how Dylan will now contribute to our school, staff and students!!
One of the things the our staff at Bridges does so well is to continue to offer opportunities and hope despite challenging circumstances. I have talked with many students and parents who count on the fact that there are opportunities to work through challenges and find new beginnings when needed. Our teachers and staff do so much to individualize the education our students receive. It really is a pleasure to see how many different ways students find success! And, now that we are in another new beginning Im excited to see what this term has to offer!
Warm Regards,
dave
#WeArePLSAS
#bridges1617
Congrats Emma on graduating and heading to MN State Mankato!
Bridges Mission - To support students' successful progress toward acquiring their high school diploma leading to gainful employment or post-secondary education.
Week at-a-Glance:
- BSAT - 730am
- Admin Meeting - Mr. Brown @ DSC
- IEP Meeting @ 11am
- ELL Access Listening Test
- Staff Meeting @ 730
- MAP testing make up - 2nd Period
- World Cafe - Reimagine MN - 630pm @ Twin Oaks
- JUMP DAY
- District PD Meeting - Mr. Brown & Mr. Martin @ DSC - 730am
- PDSC Equity Meeting - Mr. Brown @ DSC - 1pm
Welcome Dylan - Our newest team member and paraprofessional!
We wish Cory, our former paraprofessional, well in his new opportunities!!
Hello my name is Cory Callahan, also known to the students as "Agent Callahan." I have been working at Bridges Area Learning Center since December 2015. When I first came to Bridges it was the first time that I was able to work with students in an educational setting. My desire to work with students first came when I was at college at St. Cloud State University. I was a football player for St. Cloud and I injured my knee, my life was football before my injury. I took this injury and turned it into a positive, when I switched my major to Health and Physical Education. Ever since this switch my dream and desire was to work with students/athletes. I have been a high school coach for about six years now, and it wasn't until about just over a year ago that Mr. Brown gave me the opportunity to complete my dream to work with students as a paraprofessional. Throughout this past year or so I have learned many things that make me good at my job, and I extremely grateful for the students and staff that have taught me so much.
As quarter two comes to a close, the activity level at Bridges comes to an all-time high. We have been stressing to our students that this is the end of a semester so the grade that they achieve in their classes is what is going on their transcript. So the students are staying extra busy with the last few days upon us. With the students in a rush to make sure they have enough work done, to pass their classes, comes plenty of stress. Stress is something that is always around us, as we talk about quite a bit in our second hour Transitions class. We also talk about many ways to relieve that stress and we talk about what works best for us to relieve our own stress because we all react differently to certain stimuli.
A story that comes to mind, when I am typing this out, relates to how we all act differently to stress. The story starts out in Room 0, where our Special Education Teacher provides coffee to students. The part of this story that does not amuse me as well as the rest of the staff, is the fact that someone is poking holes in the Styrofoam cups that the teacher provides for consumption. This may be a stress reliever to poke holes in the foam cups, maybe it is just to be funny but that is beside the point. We want to find out who is poking holes in the cups and wasting materials that were being provided by a teacher as a courtesy. So our Special Education Teacher allows the class an opportunity to confess if they did it or if they witnessed who was poking the holes. This task alone has stress built into it. They have the choice to either confess if it was them or tell who it could have been, or they could completely crack under the pressure built by stress. Well, the majority of the class amusingly cracked because of the stress. All but two of the students wrote myself as the one that they witnessed poking holes into the coffee cups. This was all very amusing to all of the staff, and an example of how something can completely backfire on us as people who work with students.
Your body has a weird way of handling stress and as we can see if the stress is so great, it can get you to crack and return with a random response. This is why a time like the end of the quarter is so emotional to a teenage student. You don’t just have to be in school or a teenager to be exposed to stress. There are times in everyone’s life that we will deal with very high volumes of stress, we just need to make sure that, when the time comes, we are prepared to deal with it.
The past year and change has been exciting and a wonderful experience for me as a paraprofessional. Bridges, its students and staff, has taught me so much that I will continue to keep with me as long as my profession stays the same. As this second quarter comes to a close, so does my time with Bridges Area Learning Center. I have been given an opportunity to become a Head Weightlifting Coach at Northfield High School, which is my hometown. I have also been given the opportunity to continue my education, with the help and support of Cannon Valley Special Education Cooperation, so that I can become a teacher. I value every second that I have spent at Bridges because they have taught me how to be great at my job. Even though it will be hard to go, the opportunity that I have been given is something that I can’t turn down. I want to thank every staff member and every student, without them I would not be the person that I am today. Every person here at Bridges, has had some effect on me and I am extremely grateful for them.
Teacher Corner: Ms. Serefeas - English/Science,
Minnesota has many wonderful things to love – beautiful scenery, friendly people, and delicious casseroles. However, getting through a Minnesota winter can be tough on even the hardiest locals. Personally, I find road conditions infuriating as a drive in each day from south Minneapolis, walking the dog every morning has taught me to hate even the smallest breeze for the way it cuts through protective clothing (no matter how warm the ads assured it would be), and after the horrible soreness that resulted last time I have sort of given up shoveling my driveway and decided to just wait for spring to take care of it for me. Really, I think it’s not the most uplifting time of year for any of us.
But as our minds get gray and cloudy and our bodies are telling us to hibernate, it is a good time of year to focus on ways to stay positive – it can be all too easy to lose our stamina and sense of humor in these long winter days. Remember to take care of yourself physically. On cold days, stay aware of how long you have been outside; feeling cold for too long can lead to achy back and joints. However, on those rare days when it warms up a bit, consider taking a walk or otherwise getting outside for a while, since natural light can improve your health and your mood. Try to keep some fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet, especially foods like citrus fruits and peppers that are high in Vitamin C and help keep your immune system strong. Don’t forget Vitamin D either, since it can help keep your mood upbeat and positive. Finally, it is easy to slip into a slump in the dreary days of winter, so consider trying out a hobby – arts and crafts can add color and fun to your winter, give you the joy of creating, and keep the days from blurring together.
It can be hard not to feel tired or grumpy as we move into the depths of winter, and many of us would like to just curl up at home and not come out until spring. However, with a few small additions to your routine, we can all make winter much more bearable for ourselves. Stay healthy, stay happy, stay sane – and here’s to springtime.
Recently @ Bridges
Happy Birthday Denise and Candi!
Starting Quarter 3!
From the Support Staff: Kevin Wagner - Social Worker
The value of rapport
“A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled. A child cannot be taught by anyone whose demand, essentially, is that the child repudiate his experience, and all that gives him sustenance.”
― James Baldwin
One of the reasons Bridges is such an effective place for students has nothing to do with academic programming, grades, or credits. While Bridges does these things very well, it isn’t the main reason students are motivated to attend and succeed here. The relationships and rapport that the students have with the teachers and other staff members is what keeps students coming back day after day. Our class sizes are small enough that our teachers can get to know the students on a personal level. In addition to being very skilled, our teachers have a passion for working with students. Students here at Bridges know that they can trust the staff members enough to open up to them about things that may be happening in their lives. Students know that they can tell a teacher or staff member something about themselves, and that individual will remember it the following week. That has great value to students who may not have felt valued and recognized at previous schools. ‘Grow Discover Belong’ has been the slogan for Bridges since its inception eight years ago. If students do not feel that they belong or fit in, it can be very difficult for that student to take ownership of his or her academic success. Students feel like they belong at Bridges because of the rapport between them and our staff members. They know they are not a number, and that they have value as individuals. Under these circumstances, students are much more likely to experience the social and emotional growth that will be crucial to success later in life. Very few things motivate a student to succeed like having a positive and genuine rapport with their teachers. That is what makes Bridges such a successful place.