Bridge Program Is Students'
Path to Success

Reprinted from the “Times Herald Record” October 3, 2007.

Kingston, NY – The leap from middle school student to freshman at Kingston High School’s campus can be overwhelming and intimidating for some. To ease the transition, more that 70 incoming freshmen attended the district’s fifth annual three-day Summer Bridge Program.

The program was coordinated by Kingston High School guidance counselors Lindsay Hartman and Errin Parese, and the students were selected by middle school administrators based on academic and social need.

The KHS Bridge Program is the first step in creating a strong relationship between the school community and new students. Over the course of the program, students were engaged in academic, social and team-building activities with 20 high school faculty and staff members. A simulated instructional class-day rotation, where classroom teachers presented an interactive lesson and students moved throughout the six Kingston High School campus buildings, aided in students orienting themselves to a new learning environment. Informational sessions on high school clubs and activities, a tour of the campus, and meeting with members of the high school administration allowed students an inside look toward the next four years of their lives.

Camp Deer Run

The students also participated in one of New York State’s largest high-and-low ropes course at the Camp Deer Run facility in Pine Bush, where they had fun exercising, building self-esteem, promoting teamwork, and learning how to solve problems.

During the entire program, upperclassmen who are proven role models and peer leaders at Kingston High School volunteered their time to help the group of freshmen take on these new challenges.

“The Bridge Program ensures that a student’s initial experience at the high school is a positive one,” Hartman said of the program, which has had steadily increasing attendance over the last five years.

She said statistics show that social appropriateness, especially for a freshman, has a great impact on a student’s academic success.

“The incoming freshmen look to the upperclassmen that attend the program as mentors, and for assistance in maneuvering through the hallways,” Hartman said, adding that it is often easier for students to ask peers, rather than teachers, for information.

“This program has proven to be a great aid to those students who, for many reasons, haven’t had success with academics or the school environment,” Hartman said.

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