Jacky Dabó Chris Yarng Ariel Pliskin YY Yang Joe Hixson

Jacky Dabó

In recognition of her perfect attendance at the Summerbridge Cambridge After-School Program Jacky Dabó was invited on a field trip to a roller rink. Jacky had never skated before, but she was determined to learn. Long after her fellow classmates had abandoned their skates for the air hockey table, Jacky was still inching along clinging to the wall and by the end of the afternoon she was gliding around the rink.
Jacky has shown the same determination to learn at Summerbridge Cambridge. She arrived in the United States from Guinea-Bissau in the fourth grade speaking only Portuguese. Jacky and her mom moved in with her aunt and her cousin Anabela, who was a student at Summerbridge Cambridge. The next year, Jacky became a Summerbridge Cambridge student. Over that first summer her scores on her math tests more than doubled. Her writing skills also drastically improved, particularly her spelling and grammar. “Summerbridge is really a lot of fun,” said Jacky, “The teachers are great and they’ve taught me a lot of hard stuff,” after a thoughtful pause she added, “especially fractions.”

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Chris Yarng

When she applied to Summerbridge Cambridge Chris Yarng had not thought much about teaching. She did not really have the time. As an undergraduate her days had been filled with a wide range of activities including rowing on crew team, coordinating publicity for the Women’s Resource Center, and managing the Student Center. An Anthropology and Policy Studies major at Rice University, Chris listed her career interests as Public Interest Law or Public Health.

After her six weeks of teaching social studies at Summerbridge Cambridge, Chris’ career plans had changed. During her senior year Chris applied and was accepted by Teach For America (TFA) - a national teaching corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools. As a TFA corps member, Chris finds herself just as busy as ever. By day, she is a full-time teacher at Mountain View Elementary in Las Vegas where she teaches a class of 29 fifth graders. By night, she is a full-time graduate student at University of Las Vegas pursuing her master’s degree in elementary education.

“I use my Summerbridge Cambridge experience everyday,” says Chris, “while I am dreaming up crazy lesson plans to capture my students' interest, running around like a maniac in my classroom, brainstorming ways to fine-tune my teaching so that I can help each and every one of my students. My first sleepless summer as a middle-school teacher prepared me for all the hard work, grand expectations, and thrilling highs that color the days of my career as an educator.”

When she is finished with the Teach For America program and her master’s degree in elementary education, Chris plans to complete a joint law degree and master’s in public policy. Someday, she hopes to open a charter school.

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Ariel Pliskin

Summerbridge Cambridge social studies teacher Ari Pliskin definitely knew how to grab his students’ attention: with super heroes. Ari introduced his course using a page of a Spiderman comic, which sparked a discussion about an individual’s responsibility to society. Spidey was an on-going theme in his class, but students went on to learn about Cesar Chavez, the NAACP and school segregation in Bulgaria. Hooked on teaching after that first summer, Ari went on to teach at another Breakthrough program in San Fransisco the next year. He then graduated from Wesleyan University in 2004. Ari is now teaching United States social studies at the Calhoun School in New York City. In addition to teaching, Ari organizes Calhoun’s award-winning Model United Nations Team.

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YY Yang

While Summerbridge Cambridge focuses on academics, it is the social skills that alumna YY Yang grew into at Summerbridge that she credits with helping her succeed in high school. “I made a lot of great friends with students and teachers,” said YY, “Summerbridge was the first time I'd felt like I was in an environment where I could be myself and feel accepted, and that general feeling just carried over to high school.”

Summerbridge Cambridge also gave YY an edge in school – especially in math class. In 1998 her teacher Candace Kamachi taught a math class that, according to YY, “made math more fun and less routine than it really was.” So, in 2003 when YY was hired as a Summerbridge Cambridge teacher she naturally chose to teach math class, which she called Where in the World is Math? YY was the youngest teacher at Summerbridge Cambridge during summer 2003. Her love of the program and her first-hand experience of what Summerbridge could bring to a student’s education set the standard for her fellow teachers.

In fall 2005, YY will begin her freshman year at Harvard. “Summerbridge Cambridge is hard work,” said YY, “but it made me into a much better person, and I know I'll have to work hard in college. The motivation and work ethics I gained at Summerbridge Cambridge will definitely help.”

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Joe Hixson - creating a path to college with Summerbridge Cambridge

1997: Ten-year old Joe Hixson applies to be a student at Summerbridge Cambridge, following in the footsteps of his older sister. On his application he writes: “I am very, very, very, very energetic and curious!” but admits he has no idea what he will be doing when he is 30 years old. When accepted, he chooses his classes carefully, noting that for community service day he would like to “clean up a park or public area (not a bathroom).” He has a great first summer, but his teachers recommend that he get into the habit of taking notes and showing his work.

1998: After completing his second summer at Summerbridge Cambridge, Joe’s teachers praise him for many academic and personal skills and most memorably for his “love of cows (moo!), his rapping skills, and his great smile.” One teacher describes his note-taking skills as “top notch.”

1998-2001: Joe completes the middle school Intensive Studies Program. Using the skills he learned at Summerbridge Cambridge and in middle school, Joe becomes a successful student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

2002: Joe becomes a junior teacher at Summerbridge Cambridge, assisting the teachers with their classes. Joe is frequently in demand during homework hut – a time when students work on their homework before the end of the school day.

2003: With a year of experience under his belt, Joe becomes a full-fledged Summerbridge Cambridge teacher. He teaches Literature and public speaking, helps organize Celebration, and designs a series of all-girls and all-boys discussion groups on peer issues. At the end of the summer, Joe’s mentor teacher writes: “This summer has clearly been an incredible learning experience for Joe, both in terms of what it takes to teach and in the lives of early adolescents. Joe managed challenges in his class and still came through with the belief that students are inherently good and that he would like to help them….I believe that Joe will be able to reach many people.”

2004: Joe enters Pomona College as a freshman. “I doubt I could be happier at any school,” he tells Summerbridge Cambridge. Joe loves the five-college consortium and the balmy Southern California weather! A probable English or Politics major, Joe works in the theatre doing lighting and sound. Joe could not escape Breakthrough even if he wanted to: his roommate and another guy on his hall are both former teachers. Joe is seriously considering returning to Summerbridge Cambridge for a fifth summer in 2006.


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