Kidbridge

The REF "Kidbridge" program is modeled after the successful five-year partnership between the town of Victor and School 22. Karen Guidarelli, the coordinator for Kidbridge, co-founded the Victor-School 22 partnership, which has involved hundreds of people from Victor, including adults and students, faith communities and businesses.

Friends from Victor and RCSD read together.

Currently, Kidbridge involves the Victor-School 22 partnership, and the creation of a new partnership between Pittsford and School 9. Coordination of this new partnership is supported by a $20,000 Civic Engagement Grant from Rochester Area Community Foundation. The grant funds the development of supporting materials and resources that will enable other communities to form similar partnerships with the city school district.

Kidbridge connects classrooms and communities in a variety of ways. The Victor-School 22 partnership launched the Book and a Blanket program in 2004 with holiday book and blanket donations to 100 students. In December 2007, the program engaged school partnerships and volunteers to donate more than 3,000 Book and a Blanket bundles.

The program aims to create true partnerships with urban families engaged as participants and leaders in the partnerships. Parents and neighbors of School 22 students have been involved in efforts to improve and beautify the playground and have served as educators at Outdoor Learning Fairs. The programs also open community service opportunities for urban and suburban students.

The partnership between Victor and School 22 has been operated by Buddies, Bridges and Brains. That group has provided access to many additional resources for School 22 students, including the reconstruction of the school playground, volunteers for field trips, funds for school trips and books for students. In one year, the Victor-School 22 partnership received $1,500 in playground supplies and $600 in gardening supplies. These supplies were then used by volunteers to improve the school campus.

Students from RCSD and Victor work together to improve playground safety at School 22.

"Suburban and urban students and their families can learn so much from one another if we have a way to collaborate and communicate with one another," Guidarelli said. "This grant opens the door to focused and efficient partnerships between diverse communities."

"Students and adults from Victor have also benefited," she said. "Our students are more capable of collaborating with people who are not like them. They become more open members of society."

During the 2008-2009 school year, Kidbridge anticipates The School 9-Pittsford partnership and the existing School 22 - Victor partnership to create shared projects using podcasts and videoconferencing, to encourage shared reading and writing projects and shared field trips, collaboration on community service projects and engagement of parents -- in addition to continuation of the Book and a Blanket project.

Grant funding from The Community Foundation supports the work of Kidbridge coordinator Karen Guidarelli and allows the partnership to have a web presence through REF, receive donations to the partnership using REF's not-for-profit status, and to receive administrative and planning support.

"We are eager to see this partnership develop and hope it can provide a model for heightened support of city school students and expanded opportunities for awareness and understanding for city and suburban students and residents," said Patricia Braus, executive director of Rochester Education Foundation.

To get involved with Kidbridge, please contact Karen Guidarelli at karen@rochestereducation.org or call REF at 271-5790.