CMW recently received a two-year grant from the Frederick S. Upton Foundation to set in motion its Neighborhood Bridges program. Neighborhood Bridges is a nationally recognized literacy program that utilizes storytelling, theatre and creative writing to empower students to become animators of their own lives. Our skilled teaching artists animate learning and transform classrooms into communities where students think independently and work collectively. The Bridges program challenges students to identify the roots of social issues in a story and work through these issues in a group setting. These same critical thinking and communication skills can then be translated to the much broader life canvas and the other communities our young people will encounter. The program will be held in eight Benton Harbor Area Schools third grade classrooms growing to include fourth graders in its second year.

Schools are welcome to contact CMW to discuss bringing the Neighborhood Bridges program to their schools.