Empowering the Future
We believe in our future generations’ ability to be agents of change, their unique leadership, and our responsibility to them. Our programs enable children and adolescents to build confidence and develop the skill set necessary to live fruitful lives for themselves and those around them. We celebrate passion, curiosity, and dreaming big. Through our diverse programming and initiatives, we support children and adolescents in their journey to becoming confident and mindful individuals ready for their future.
The Outsiders: An Origin Story
The idea was simple: could you take 20 middle-school boys guided by a shared passion and create a holistic pipeline of support through college with the help of coaches, mentors, teachers, and corporate partners? And could you scale it across the country?
It was not an easy road, and everyone involved quickly realized the nuanced and diverse challenges many of the young boys faced within their immediate communities. In the end, 18 of the 20 boys went on to college, many on full scholarships. Today, these young boys are now young professionals who can still rely on each other as a network and support system. This program, called ‘The Outsiders’, paved the way for BridgeUP. The goal was to recreate not only a safe space after school - where students could receive academic support - but also to create a place where they could pursue their passion. BridgeUP was born.
BridgeUP Universe
BridgeUP started in 2013 with a pilot program, BridgeUP: CORE, which then became the catalyst to the launch of other BridgeUP programs.
Applying the lessons learned from The Outsiders mentorship program, BridgeUP: CORE provided cohorts of New York City students (8th grade through high school) with academic and extra-curricular support all across the city at New York Public Library branches. In its first five years, BridgeUP:
Impacted 124 students on a highly individualized level
Helped 98% of them graduate from high school on time
Provided college and post-secondary counseling to ensure that 100% were accepted to and attended college or a post-secondary program or career
Today, with support from the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, BridgeUP has expanded from a single after-school program to help bridge the gap in other areas as well. The entire BridgeUP Universe (as we sometimes call it) now consists of a multitude of programs and partnerships: BridgeUP+OUT at Cardinal Hayes, BridgeUP Environment with SCA, BridgeUP STEM with NCWIT at Georgia Tech, BridgeUP Theater in the Schools at Northern Stage, BridgeUP BootCamp at Northern Stage, BridgeUP Summer Camp with YMCA Camp Coniston, and BridgeUP GiddyUP with Southern Blues Equestrian Center.
Through the BridgeUP programs, we believe we are empowering and inspiring children and adolescents to dream big and pursue whatever that may be.
BridgeUP+OUT
In 2019, BridgeUP: CORE became BridgeUP+OUT and now operates out of Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, NY. This change allowed us to bring the program closer to home for many of the students we work with and embed it within their school and community. BridgeUP+OUT is now doing its part to launch a generation of young adults who possess the skills, confidence, and mindset necessary to navigate the world around them in a practical, meaningful, and mindful manner. BridgeUP+OUT’s curriculum is based on four pillars:
academic support
post-secondary readiness
social and emotional learning
cultivating passion and self-discovery
Program staff, known as Program Coaches, works passionately to support students academically after-school assisting them with homework assignments and test preparation. ‘Tutors’ are hired to provide additional academic assistance as needed.
Students learn social and emotional skills through a thoughtfully curated curriculum developed by Program Directors and staff so that students learn to manage issues in and outside of school as they arise.
Students’ development of interests are cultivated through meaningful summer experiences. By providing a vetted “menu” of options for scholars to choose from, we offer them a diverse pool of opportunities to select from to have new experiences and exist in new environments. Through intensive planning and support, the BridgeUP+OUT staff ensures that students feel supported, not only during the calendar year, but during the breaks as well. It is important they feel empowered by a network of resources, opportunities, and support.
BridgeUP: Environment
BridgeUP: Environment provides New York City high-school youth with the opportunity to learn about environmental conservation, gain professional experience during the summers between school, and develop or strengthen their soft-skill set. This program partners with the Student Conservation Association, to inspire lifelong stewardship of the environment in the hopes that we are cultivating diverse future conservation leaders. Through the Student Conservation Association’s NYC Youth Program, we fund cohorts of ten students and two leaders each to work on distinct projects that improve public parks throughout New York City. This program is supplemental to BridgeUP+OUT by providing a summer employment opportunity to BridgeUP scholars who want to earn extra income while learning about conservation and exploring future career paths. That is why SCA focuses their recruitment efforts on the other BridgeUP programs. In this way, BridgeUP: Environment provides a pipeline of opportunity for self-exploration and development. After a summer of employment, BridgeUP: Environment scholars gain new or richer knowledge about the environment and conservation.
They have a better understanding of the careers and opportunities in the field, and a set of soft and hard skills that they can leverage in their high school or post-secondary careers, all while learning about and helping improve their neighborhoods. Learn more about our partner, SCA’s NYC program >
BridgeUP: STEM
BridgeUP: STEM takes gender inequity in the STEM fields into our own hands - and the hands of our girls. STEM provides opportunities for girls and young women of all backgrounds to learn the skills of computer science in small groups with their peers. Our program is designed to reach young women at critical points in their academic careers while also providing mentorship opportunities.
BridgeUP: STEM participants engage in one of two ways:
A three-year program for high-school girls, or BridgeUP Scholars, beginning their 9th or 10th grade in either the summer or fall during the academic year. During their first year, BridgeUP Scholars receive computer programming education and later get the opportunity to work on a group research project via an ‘internship’ guided by a mentor and with their peers.
A one-year post-baccalaureate fellowship for women called the Helen Fellowship that allows them to conduct their own research at the intersection of computer and natural sciences. Helen Fellows act as teachers and mentors to the Brown Scholars during their ‘internship’ phase and get to work on their own research with the support of scientists at the Museum of Natural History to advance their own professional careers.
BridgeUP: Theater in the Schools
The mission of BridgeUP: Theater in the Schools is to increase theater access and learning resources for 4th to 6th-grade students throughout Vermont and New Hampshire. BridgeUP: Theater in the Schools aims to do so by bringing artists into the classroom, supporting the curricular needs of underserved schools, and introducing young people to theater through low‐cost access to professional productions.
BridgeUP: Theater in the Schools selects and works with several local elementary and middle schools in Vermont and New Hampshire to offer a five-week residency program for teaching artists that supports the curriculum of the classroom by incorporating theater exercises and Shakespeare plays.
Teaching artists with extensive experience work with teachers at these schools in a five-week residency. They engage with a whole grade of students from theater lovers to novices. During this time, students explore text, learn various acting techniques, history, and team-building skills. In a final presentation of scenes from a Shakespearean play, the students display their work to their entire school.
A performance for friends and families at Northern Stage follows this initial performance. Our program provides professional support of lights, sound, basic sets, and costume pieces. In essence, this is the first professional production for many of the children. BridgeUP: Theater in the Schools also provides schools with scholarship funding and transportation to view professional shows at Northern Stage.
BridgeUP: Bootcamp Company
BridgeUP: Bootcamp Company seeks to level the playing field and increase access to performing arts training by preparing high-school students to compete at the highest level for continued arts and performance studies. Admission to colleges, BFA theater programs, and performing arts conservatories are highly competitive. BridgeUP: Bootcamp Company at Northern Stage is trying to change that by nurturing young theater artists by providing in-depth training and mentorship for high school juniors, seniors, and recent graduates who want to pursue a career in the arts. Our program serves young artists who lack the resources to pursue professional-level arts training.
Our program provides personalized training tailored to each student’s unique capabilities and aspirations, as well as assistance with college admission and financial aid applications. Bootcampers receive one-on-one coaching and mentorship from professional theater artists, participate in group masterclasses, and perform with Northern Stage’s Youth Ensemble Studio and Summer Musical Theater Intensive. Bootcamp Apprentices, high-school grads, also receive training in theater administration and production while working part-time in the Northern Stage offices.
Included in BridgeUP: Bootcamp Company’s program is a trip to New York to experience Broadway productions and participate in the National Unified Auditions, where top universities see Cadets and Apprentices. BridgeUP: Bootcamp Company is currently invitation-only and is in its second year of a two-year beta program. With weekly voice and dance lessons, monthly masterclasses, audition preparation, and more, this rigorous program requires significant time and energy from the students. In its first year, all seven seniors/recent graduates were accepted into college theater programs.
BridgeUP: Giddy Up
BridgeUP: Giddy Up provides children with a unique track to personal development through the medium of horseback riding. It is a free program for those that are accepted, and is available to 48 students in the Whitehaven community (located in Memphis Tennessee) between the ages of 11-18.
Accepted students will receive 2 horseback riding lessons per week, transportation to the Southern Blues Equestrian Center, as well as two meals per week and Saturday Activities including physical fitness and fun. Not only is horseback riding a fun sport and great exercise, but horse back riding can often help children to become more confident, responsible, empathetic, and goal-oriented.
And the best part about the program: students who demonstrate exceptional work ethic, commitment, and talent may have opportunities to compete in various competitions and events!
BridgeUP: Summer Camp
The mission of BridgeUP: Summer Camp is to provide ample and safe spaces where children and families in Coniston and the surrounding areas can gather in compliance with social distancing guidelines as a result of COVID-19.
Taking advantage of some of the psychological benefits of being outdoors, YMCA Camp Coniston is able to stay open for summer 2020 and provide free programming and thematic days (“Community Days”) full of activities for diverse families and their children, with special thematic days dedicated to underserved communities including but not limited to: families of essential workers, low-income, first-generation, families of veterans and first responders, refugee communities.
Our hope is that this partnership with YMCA Camp Coniston will allow an additional opportunity to come to fruition: for other BridgeUP program students to attend summer camp if desired and to interact with other children from different walks of life, and to expand their horizons, and allow for a healthy and safe learning and growing experience.
BridgeUP is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I appreciate all of my fellows and tutors who always encourage me to do better and more than what I already can do. I am just surrounded by people who give out a sense of comfort and support and spread out good vibes to everyone. I also appreciate the many resources BridgeUP has. They have almost everything you would need to be successful in high school, and no project or assignment is ever incomplete because you have the people and things necessary to get those things done.
— Nicholas