Breakthrough New Orleans Gives Kids a Head Start on College

[FULL STORY]

Roll out those lazy hazy crazy days of summer? Not at Newman! Though they are often hazy and sometimes crazy, the days of summer are anything but lazy in the Newman campus, especially now that Breakthrough New Orleans is in full swing. With over 85 children from local schools attending academic enrichment classes, the School is bustling with activity throughout the summer.

Enjoying its 21st year at Newman, the Breakthrough New Orleans (BTNOLA) program is a unique, research-proven intervention which prepares high-potential but underserved public and charter middle school students for rigorous academic opportunities, placing them on the path to college, while also recruiting, training, and inspiring outstanding high school and college students to pursue careers in education.

Students and Teachers
Attending Breakthrough lets high-achieving 6th, 7th, and 8th graders hone their skills in math, science, English and social studies, giving them supplemental instruction to help convert their existing success in middle school into continued success in high school and college. The program includes students from 15 schools, including Lake Forest Charter School, Lusher Charter, KIPP Believe, KIPP Central City, Langston Hughes, Audubon, International School of Louisiana, Pierre A. Capdau School, and many others.

One of the program’s goals is to inspire high school and college students to pursue careers in education. BTNOLA’s staff is comprised of high school and college students from around the country. Several are Newman upper schoolers, while others are from nearby and far-flung universities. The roster includes students from Yale, Brown, the University of North Carolina, Rutgers, Spelman, Morehouse, Macalester, Tulane, and many others.

Core Curriculum
Each morning, the students arrive on buses and are greeted by their teachers singing various good morning songs. The whole group shares a breakfast together and then gets ready for the day with an all-school meeting. The students and teachers then head off to four academic classes in the morning, followed by lunch and two more elective classes. The academic classes build on what the students learn during their regular school year, using the latest teaching methods being taught in universities. Many of the classes such as cultural geography, geometry, and physics prepare students for classes they have not yet taken at their schools. The afternoon classes let students delve into their own interests and have some fun, with titles such as “Soundtrack to your Life,” “Deeper than Rap,” “Law and Order: Breakthrough,” “Cultural Exchange,” “Dance,” and many more. There are also foreign language classes in Spanish, Japanese, French, and Mandarin Chinese.

Getting Involved
Throughout the summer, Breakthrough offers opportunities for parents and other community members to get involved with the program. Visitor days let people sit in with classes and interact with the students and teachers to get a real feeling of how special and enriching this program is. Visits can be scheduled for Tuesday, June 28 and Tuesday, July 12. Wednesday, July 13 is Breakthrough’s Career Day, in which parents, friends of the School, and New Orleans community members speak to classes about specific careers. This is a great opportunity to show the students the wide variety of professions education and college can offer them. To schedule a visit on either the visitor days or Career Day, please contact Jennifer Francino, Development Officer, at (504) 896-6430 or jfrancino@newmanschool.org.

Breakthrough New Orleans truly gives students the chance to “make breakthroughs happen.” To find out more about the program, please visit the Newman’s Breakthrough web page or the BTNOLA website.