|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Breakthrough Miami, with the support of the Miami Dolphins Football Unites, on Saturday, Mar. 13, hosted another session of Breakthroughs and Bridges, facilitating critical conversations to explore issues of race, identity, privilege, and social justice.
The most recent workshop empowered student voices to explore topics such as Voting & Civic Engagement, Public Health, Education, Criminal Justice and introduced a session where the focus went beyond student populations to include faculty, DEI officers, volunteers, parents, and non-profit leaders.
The workshop also was attended by Jason Jenkins, Miami Dolphins senior vice president of Communications and Community Affairs, and Dolphins players Lynn Bowden Jr. and Preston Williams, who engaged in thought-provoking conversations to work together for solutions-oriented joint learning experiences.
Breakthroughs and Bridges was developed by Breakthrough Miami in an effort to foster the next generation of leaders to embrace difference as an asset and gain the skills to establish and nurture meaningful relationships, empowering them in their personal and professional lives.
Soliciting and empowering student voices at the center of the work, this year, scholars and volunteers shaped the evolution of the program designing and leading the development and delivery of sessions, challenging themselves to lean into the pressing challenges facing their generation. Breakthrough Miami is investing in the leadership development of young people to research, reflect and address social injustices and inequities through constructive dialogue and inquiry.
“It is deeply fulfilling to see the growth of this initiative over the past three years with the continued support of Miami Dolphins Football Unites. This year, we see the true evolution of Breakthroughs and Bridges as fully embedded into our program model, with this session being led by our Scholars and Volunteers, embodying Breakthrough Miami’s students-teaching-students model,” said Lori-Ann Cox, CEO of Breakthrough Miami, “It’s powerful to watch our mentees become the mentors and students become the teachers. We work hard to ensure all our students have the confidence, access, and ability to speak truth to power and we embrace our role as a bridge-builder across Miami’s diverse communities.”
For nearly 30 years, Breakthrough Miami has served as an opportunity generator to create an environment that nurtures social mobility and self-actualization. As divides across diverse communities deepen nationally, Breakthrough Miami seeks to leverage its unique
positioning as a bridge-builder and facilitator to address these challenges at a local level.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with Breakthrough Miami. Breakthrough and Bridges aligns with the three pillars of the Football Unites program which are to improve relationships, foster understanding and experience culture,” Jenkins said. “Our staff and players enjoyed interacting with and connecting with the students, mentors, and leaders that worked together to inspire positive social change.”
Diego Moran, an 11th grade student at Coral Gables Senior High School and a Breakthrough Scholar, said, “It was one of the best experiences of my life, hands down.
The opportunity to discuss real-world issues that happen today in a safe and respectable environment is always an amazing thing to do. My purpose was to inspire others but everything worked out so well that I found myself inspired by those who attended my session. I can’t thank Breakthrough and Bridges enough for allowing me the opportunity to present.”
In the past three years, Breakthrough and Bridges, facilitated by Emani Jerome and Anthony Teague of Bridge Builders 305, has served as an impactful tool to empower students to explore inequities that exist in the educational system, the community, as well as to gain deeper levels of understanding of identity, bias, and privilege. This year, the workshop not only engaged students but also introduced a new session dedicated to parents, faculty, volunteers, and other individuals working with youth.
Celebrating three decades as Miami’s Opportunity Generator, Breakthrough Miami uses a unique “students-teaching-students” model to create a rigorous, vibrant learning community, where highly motivated, traditionally underrepresented fifth-12th grade students are supported to achieve post-secondary success and emerging leaders are inspired to become the next generation of educators and advocates. Recruited in the fourth grade, Breakthrough Scholars benefit from an unparalleled eight-year tuition-free academic and social enrichment program. Serving 1,300 scholars, 130 Teaching Fellows, and over 400 volunteers, Breakthrough Miami empowers students to catch their dreams in advancing an inclusive cycle of promise and prosperity. Founded in 1991, the Breakthrough Miami program operates throughout the school year on Saturdays and for six weeks in the summer at six host site school campuses which include leading independent schools: Ransom Everglades School, Gulliver Preparatory, Miami Country Day School, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, and Palmer Trinity School, as well as the University of Miami.
For more information, visit www.breakthroughmiami.org.
