Building Bridges with Migrant Youth
Building Bridges with Migrant Youth (BRIDGES) connects educators, students, and community advocates to support students from migrant backgrounds to graduate from high school and build pathways to higher education. BRIDGES uses a service-learning model that incorporates culturally relevant pedagogy and community based education to match university students with middle and high schools students in a model of cascading mentorship. Based on research and knowledge of students’ strengths and challenges, BRIDGES attempts to create student-centered pathways with academic supports, role models, culturally relevant programs, and college access workshops. Focusing simultaneously on mentoring relationships and institutional supports, we attempt to anticipate barriers and pro-actively bridge them to support students’ access to higher education.