It would be hard for Breakthrough seventh and eighth-grade students to persevere through the school year without some Breakthrough spirit, so thank goodness for Super Saturdays! The Breakthrough community reconvenes five times over the course of the school year for Super Saturdays with high school juniors and seniors as the teaching interns.
Breakthrough has been more important than ever lately as our students navigate pandemic learning loss, and their desire to be back together on the Derryfield campus for the first Super Saturday session in November was palpable. This year’s learning themes include language and communications; mindfulness and hobbies; and traditions, cultures, and communities. March will offer a STEM focus with an optional second Saturday to analyze the results of a Super Saturday lab experiment led by Teaching Intern Kennedy Amorim and Dr. Taylor Moon of the Derryfield faculty. The school year program will culminate in April with a field trip to explore oceanography at UNH.
Executive Director Deb McLoud said of Breakthrough Manchester’s 31-year relationship with Derryfield, “Not only are we blessed with the beautiful campus and state-of-the-art facilities, but also an unbelievable corps of talented, service-oriented students, many of whom have joined us as School Year Teaching Interns and Summer Teaching Fellows over the years.”
Derryfield junior and first-time teacher Jack Krasnof learned a lot on his first day. “Going into it, I was nervous about the pressure of being a high schooler in the teaching role, but the first Super Saturday was an amazing experience. I felt like I was part of a caring community where everyone wanted to learn from each other.”
Breakthrough students were over the moon to be back together on campus. One 7th-grader summed it up, “This is the best day ever! I love Super Saturdays!”
