February 3 and 4

With the help of the wonderful Dominican mentors Azan, Nicole and Jamie, the 4th graders created their Towers of Power.  From their list of descriptive adjectives, each child wrote three adjectives describing themselves on colored paper. They then incorporated those words into an elegant model tower, inspired by the images they saw last week.  They all were very focused, as they worked within the project constraints (no higher than 10” and no wider than 3 1/2”). This is the first element they will be integrating into their pathways, gateways and bridges to college models.

At the end of each class several students presented their work, and received feedback from their peers and our Dominican mentors.

February 10 and 11

This week, the 4th grade students in Mr. Seligman and Ms. Wilson’s classes again had fantastic sessions. We launched our 2-part Bridge investigations, as we continue to explore our project question: What are the towers, pathways, bridges, gateway to college and beyond? 

With the help of the wonderful Dominican mentors Azan, Jackie, Nicole and Jamie, the children studied bridge types and drew thumbnail sketches of 4 stunning bridges.  They also viewed slides of bridges around the world.  They then worked with a partner to create observational drawings of the towers they built last week.  Each child drew their own tower plays their partner's, then they drew an imaginary bridge to join the two,  That bridge featured things they had in common.The children met this serious challenge with much verve and creativity!

At the end of each class, several students presented their work, and received feedback from their peers and our Dominican mentors.

February 24 and 25

Our 50 fourth grade students from Mr. Seligman and Ms. Wilson’s classes had a fantastic week!  We focused on designing and building bridges to represent one big step on our pathways from elementary school to college. 

The students were inspired by our mentors from Dominican University (Nicole, Jamie and Jackie) We were joined by mentors from UC Berkeley (Justin Abby, Saidy, Micah and Charlie).  It was exciting to see the young students interact with the college students as they constructed their bridges, while telling their stories and asking questions.  

Thanks Justin and Saidy for sharing your presentations about your journeys to college. You really piqued their interest in higher education. So many children asked to present their work at the end of each day—another indication of the inspiration they received.

From the photos on right, you can see how special it is for the young students to bask in the individual attention from our mentors.  

March 3 and 4

Our 4th grade students in Ms. Wilson and Mr. Seligman’s classes have been working magnificently with our University Mentors from UC Berkeley and Dominican University!

This week Nicole, Jackie and Micah presented terrific visual slide shows representing each of their journey’s from elementary school to college.  They featured highlights, challenges, and opportunities along the way.  Each one offered the children advice and answered questions after their inspiring presentations.

While viewing images of some iconic gateways, the children then created observational drawings.  The with the mentors (Nicole, Jamie, Natalya, Azan, Jackie, Justin, Abby, Micah, and Charlie) each child built a model gateway,  with structural forms expressing their symbolic hopes as they travel through the gateways into their futures.

Students who finished went outside and played the giant "Journey to College" board game with the 5th grade students. (Built by the 4th grade class in 2023)

We capped each session off with presentations.  Abby and Jamie gave every great public speaking tips before the young students presented. Jamie also took some awesome photos.

The children absolutely love working with the college mentors.

March 10 and 11

Our eager, creative 4th grade students continued on their journey exploring Gateways, Bridges and Pathways from elementary school to college.  With illustrious leadership from UC Berkeley mentor Micah and Dominican EDJE Fellow Natalya, the young students wrote about the journey each of them has taken in the first nine years of their life.  They also included aspirations for the next 10 years. 

Additionally, each student wrote a short letter to their families thanking them for their support and inviting them to our field trip to Dominican on March 27. Their letters were quite powerful, as they expressed appreciation to parents, grandparents, and siblings for housing, clothing, feeding, helping with homework, and encouraging.

We continued with the day’s theme “Pathways”.  Each student created another component of their final model: their own imagined pathway from elementary school to college.  These colorful creations featured words that expressed hopes, dreams, and other aspirations for the future (in English and Spanish).

As always, students presented their work to the whole class, and received feedback from our mentors and their peers.

March 24

We had a great visit with Josue Castillo, Program Director of Dominican University's La Vida Program.  He really “set the table” nicely, in anticipation of our visit to Dominican later this week.  He shared his journey, and intertwined it with information about the support organizations available to immigrants and low-income students along the way— from middle school to college.  It was fun and inspiring!  Thanks to Jamie Woo for photographing, and to you Josue for bringing the journey to college to life.

Thanks again Josue!!

March 28

The 4th grade students from Laurel Dell Elementary had an amazing visit to Dominican University of California yesterday as part of their Pathways, Gateways and Bridges to College Y-PLAN/Youth in Arts program.  They were warmly welcomed by President, Dr. Nicola Pitchford, La Vida’s Jose Castillo, Principal Pepe Gonzalez, and a fantastic team of student mentors and their professors Dr. Emily Wu, Julia Van der Ryn, and Lynn Sondag. About 15 parents were also in attendance, supporting their children and learning more about opportunities in higher education.

May 13

A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the wonderful 4th grade culminating event at Laurel Dell on May 13. 

• Principal Lopez for your warm welcome and for setting the tone for the day.   

• Dr. Pitchford and Dr. Behmand for your sincere and inspiring words, and for your investment in our young learners. 

• La Vida’s Mr. Castillo for your enthusiastic, steady support leading the way to college. 

• Mentors Mr. Azan, Ms. Natalya and Ms. Abby for conveying the richness of your experiences with the students. 

• Teacher, Mr. Seligman for your astute insights about the importance of mentorship and higher ed. 

• Professors Van der Ryn, Dr. McKoy, and Dr. Wu for the foundational support this semester and always. 

• And again Drs. Pitchford + Behmand for generously announcing the $200 scholarships for every student!!