The Sudbury Catholic District School Board hosted a “BridgeAtSchool”
presentation at St. Andrew Catholic School recently. Chuck Crispin and Doug Foreman, the facilitators of the “BridgeAtSchool” program gave a short presentation to the Grade 5 students in the school’s library and introduced the children to the game of bridge. The objective of “BridgeAtSchool” is to create enthusiasm for learning with a variety of teaching approaches. According to the school’s principal, “Teaching bridge to the students helps improve their short-term memory retention. The game of bridge brings together logic, communication, social competence and decision making in a unique way.”

Rossella Bagnato, Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board noted that the additional benefits to the “BridgeAtSchool” program are tremendous. The game helps students increase scores in math, further develops critical thinking and social skills, allows children to learn at their own pace in the midst of a larger group, involves children with their local community and provides opportunities for school spirit through inter-school competitions. St. Andrew Catholic School is one of two schools in which the “BridgeAtSchool” program has been introduced. St. James Catholic School in Lively will be hosting the program for a second time later this year.