BRIDGES JOINS WITH PASSPORT SCHOOLS
by Susan Olivier- Hirasawa
Bridges to Understanding is thrilled to announce that we have consolidated with Passport Schools Northwest, an organ-ization founded and led by Greg Tuke. When Phil and I attended an Adobe awards breakfast last winter, we had no idea that the most important event that had taken place was not receiving the grant, but meeting Greg Tuke, Lori Markowitz and Jennifer Geist of Passport Schools NW, an affiliate of iEARN. iEARN (the International Education and Resource Network) links over 20,000 classrooms around the world and facilitates international collaborations. continue

Good-Bye to Susan as ED, Welcome to Greg
By Susan Olivier-Hirasawa & Greg Tuke
A year and a half ago I was thrilled to take on the role of Bridge’s Executive Director and it is a bittersweet moment as I step down and welcome our new Executive Director, Greg Tuke. In a tumultuous year Bridges faced financial continue

WORLDS APART, HEARTS TOGETHER
by Cheryl Crow & Lori Markowitz
The Worlds Apart HeARTS Together project joined eighth grade students from Washington Middle School with peers from Cape Town, South Africa for three weeks of intercultural dialogue, dramatization, writing, listening and performing arts. The mission of the event was to engage students in artistic workshops and civic dialogue focusing on cross cultural understanding and community building.  Bridges partnered with Passport Schools NW, Book-It Repertory Theate, University of Washington's continue

NOTES FROM PHIL by Phil Borges
Summer is here, but things have not slowed down a bit for Bridges. I am thrilled at where we are heading now that we have partnered with Greg Tuke and Passport Schools NW.  Greg’s passion for instilling cultural competency in our youth is a perfect fit for Bridges, and his leadership skills are unmatched. The merger has gone flawlessly so far, thanks in no small part to the extraordinary efforts of new board members Kirk Anderson and Terry Lee, who provided hours of consulting and ground work to help execute the merger. continue

WELCOME TO GREG TUKE, JENNIFER GEIST & LORI MARKOWITZ
We are honored to introduce three new members of the Bridges team!
Greg Tuke
Greg has worked fervently to ensure that the students of tomorrow have an increased global consciousness. He was the founding executive director of Powerful Schools and Passport Schools NW and the Washington State Coalition for International Education. For Powerful Schools, he led a coalition of public schools and community organizations dedicated to creating powerful learning environments in schools and low-income communityes.
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