The students sat outside, chatting amongst themselves while waiting for the program to begin.
English Instructor Naomi uses some precious free moments to discuss the term project with Summer Bridge student OJ.
When the time was 9:00AM the students began to take their seats. Mercifully it was cool in the Cultural Center, something that had not been the case for the first five Mondays of the Bridge program.
SB Coordinator Anne Flanagan welcomed the students. She and Naomi reminded the students of the due date for their English section portfolios. Math section instructor Luissette Hernández-González (not pictured) reminded the students that the Math section Final Exam would be held on Wednesday.
After the preliminaries were done, the program began. First on the agenda was a documentary dealing with the conflict in Chiapas, Mexico --
"The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas"
Once the thought provoking film was finished, the students were rewarded with a little fun -- the annual Summer Bridge Scavenger Hunt! The students were placed in groups of four and each group was given a group designation number and a sheet of instructions. The students were told to follow the instruction -- find the office which corresponded best to the clue given and collect the required information. The first groups to return with all the desired information would be the winners.
The students were given a one hour time limit and then released. The hunt was on!
Some groups stayed together and worked as a team.
Other groups split the tasks and went in separate directions.
The students straggled in, hot and tired from the campus-wide search. It became apparent that advances in technology had changed fundamentally the way the hunt was conducted. Student teams kept in touch using their cellphones!! Wecome to the 21st Century!
The judging was over and the winning team determined. Here we see the students with their first place prizes -- very nice sweatshirts with UIC logos.
The team that came in a close second also received their reward -- a gold UIC lapel pin!
The Monday events for the Summer Bridge were now officially completed but the students work was far from finished. Next up -- the Math Final Exam and English portfolio! Good luck, students!