FALL 2017
I
THE BEAUTY OF COLLABORATION
f you spend enough time at PBC, sooner or later you end up trying to move everyone in your group from a large square platform onto a tiny one. This particular activity, called Three Plank Bridge, is an experiential learning exercise that builds teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills – all critical 21st century skills. It’s also a perfect analogy for the nature of the work we do, both with participants and for them. Anyone walking around the campus in recent months would have seen extensive evidence of all of these skills. For example, during Summer Bridge, you’d see PICS summer interns and facilitators teaming up to supervise the waterfront while students paddled out in canoes and kayaks, or jumped into Bass Lake to cool off. You’d see those same students later in their STEM class, hunched over plastic cups and microscopes, carefully extracting DNA from strawberries and describing what they saw. You’d see them cheering their
peers on at the climbing wall and on the high ropes courses. You’d see them throwing their arms around their buddies as they went into Egner Lodge for lunch. Behind the scenes, you might not have seen the collaboration of adults working together to design and refine programs, to reach out to supporters for donations, to maintain the facilities in spotless condition, and to plan next steps. There are always next steps. For example, this summer, Roberto Gil, Jr., Director of the Blairstown Campus, had a vision: he wanted every Summer Bridge student to go home with their own independent reading book. Former longtime trustee (and now Advisory Council member) Jane Fremon, who founded and leads the Princeton Friends School, enlisted her entire school to donate the proceeds of their annual book sale to PBC to purchase culturally relevant, age-appropriate books. And every Friday during Summer Bridge, you would see students hovering over book tables in Danielson Lodge, looking for that perfect book to take home. Approximately 450 students had this opportunity during Summer Bridge 2017.
Another great example of collaboration includes NRG Energy. PBC Trustees and NRG employees Chris Moser and Courtney Lang knew we wanted to increase our capacity to provide hands-on experiences for students to better understand PBC’s alternative energy sources. They wrote a short proposal and presented it to PositiveNRG, which approved the purchase and donation of a Goal Zero Yeti 150 kWh Battery and Boulder 50 W solar panel. PBC’s STEM Instructors helped students learn first-hand about the solar panels on Egner Lodge’s roof through the individual NRG cell which powered several electrical devices. All of our collaborative work is only possible because of you. Please give generously so that we can continue to provide critical 21st century skills in a collaborative learning environment, free of charge, to our community’s most vulnerable youth. Your gift makes a visible impact. With gratitude, Sarah Tantillo, Ed.D. Board Chair
Pam Gregory President & CEO