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Ruby's Bridges Program
The
Ruby’s Bridges program mission is to provide a unique, educational
program which brings diverse student populations together to develop
relationship-building skills, strategies for collaborative work for
social change, and a robust appreciation of differences, all carefully
aligned with the state standards and classroom curriculum. The pilot program served 280 students representing widely diverse areas of the Los Angeles Unified School District including South L.A., West, L.A., Pacific Palisades, and Woodland Hills. The four participating schools were Crescent
Heights Boulevard Language Arts & Social Justice Magnet Marquez
Charter School 93rd
Street School Serrania
Avenue School Teachers
and administrators from the participating schools, coupled with the Ruby
Bridges Foundation and Museum of Tolerance educators, committed
extensive resources to ensure Ruby’s Bridges is aligned with State Standards. The program is
designed to be a long-lasting and enriching learning experience which is
consistent with and supplements the existing classroom curriculum. Ruby
Bridges is directly involved at three points throughout the
year-long program: in the initial workshop with the teachers, a midway
visit to speak with participating students, and at the conclusion of the
school year with a culmination event which includes student
participants, administrators, teachers, parents, and partners. Due
to the success of the pilot program, Ruby’s Bridges is continuing its partnership with the Museum
of Tolerance and expanding from four to eight schools in 2003-04;
reaching over 500 fourth and fifth grade students in the L.A. area. The
participating schools are: Bell
Gardens Elementary School / Bell Gardens Brentwood
School / L.A. Carpenter
Avenue School / Studio City, CA Crescent
Heights Boulevard Language Arts & Social Justice Magnet / West L.A. McKinley
Avenue School / South L.A. Nestle
Avenue School / Tarzana, CA 93rd
Street School / South L.A. Serrania
Avenue School / Woodland Hills, CA Ruby’s
Bridges has
also been introduced in Chicago, in partnership with Hewitt Associates,
a global Human Resources company which is “helping build tomorrow’s
diverse workforce”. The
two participating schools are: Charles
J. Caruso Middle School / Deerfield, IL Jack
Benny Middle School / Waukegan, IL A
total of 340 sixth grade students are involved. The
Ruby Bridges Foundation plans to continue to expand the reach and
geography of Ruby’s
Bridges beyond Los Angeles and Chicago to other locations
across the country in future years.
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The
first partnership and pilot program of Ruby’s
Bridges joined the Ruby Bridges Foundation with the Simon
Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, during the
2002-03 school year. Both organizations share a commitment toward the
common goal of fighting intolerance and injustice through educational
outreach, community involvement, and social action. By learning about
and understanding the past, we can avoid the same injustices in the
future.