Communicate and Push Forward

If you thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth...you we're just about right. After my last post I decided where to go...and I've been doing it.

A Yahoo Group has been established called Bridge Teachers for Youth http://groups.yahoo.com/group/btfy/. Anyone interested in Youth bridge is welcome to join, please feel free to pass the information and link along.

Just like the Bridge Teachers for Youth web site I created www.btfy.org, it is a group where youth bridge teachers can join and solicit help with problems, receive information about new projects and upcoming events, ask questions, bounce ideas and just find a broad shoulder to cry on if needed.

My non-profit Atlanta Junior Bridge has finished the 9 Week Middle School Curriculum we've been working on. The 550+ page curriculum is built for 9 weeks of 45 minute classes. It includes lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, tests, practice hand records and instructions to run a duplicate game at the end of the course. It was created by an AJB teacher and his (retired school teacher) wife, with input from another AJB teacher and myself.

This was built to fit into the 'spots' I've been told all Middle Schools have called many different things Enrichment courses, Electives, Connection courses and probably many other names.

A week ago Friday I had a 'Teach Kids Bridge' seminar with many of the social and duplicate players I teach. The first portion was talking about how to teach bridge, how to teach kids bridge and the differences/problems they might encounter. The second portion was about this curriculum and the help AJB needed to get the curriculum into the hands of the Board(s) of Education for approval.

BridgeAtSchools http://www.bridgeatschools.org/ is interested and plans to partner with AJB in getting things started.

If any of you know of anyone who might be interested in the curriculum or the project...please pass the info along. AJB plans to offer this (free of course)to anyone who can use it as soon as we field test it a little and I finish linking all the individual files and creating a pdf.

My next several posts will probably be about the method I use to get the curriculum approved and ideas about funding the project long term.