Current freshmen students with their Class Captains–the liaisons between advocates and students–Steve and Ann Bartoli, catching up before heading to play Giant Jenga and Giant Connect 4.
Advocates and students getting to know each other over dinner before playing Uno, Dominoes, Battleship, and more.
Building Bridges is founded on the belief that students with high academic potential but limited means can thrive in rigorous, fast-paced academic environments if given the opportunity. One of the central tenets of the program is providing each scholar an advocate–an adult who mentors the scholar throughout his/her high school journey and beyond and is committed to the long-term success and well-being of the scholar.
While Building Bridges requires monthly connections between advocates and scholars, we know that, realistically, forging personal mentorship relationships with high schoolers can be difficult. For that reason, we offer multiple low pressure gatherings for scholars and advocates to connect in social settings. This year, we will offer bowling, picnics, and dinner/game nights (our most recent pictured below, so well attended that it spread across three different rooms).
If you’ve never been an advocate and are interested or you’ve been an advocate and are looking to positively impact another student throughout their educational career, please contact buildingbridgesdetroitalumni@