Walking blindfolded in a line, each with his or her hand on theshoulder of the person in front, a group of about 25 high schoolstudents stream into the buildings surrounding The UniversityCenter Lawn. The students are part of the Bridge Builders program,which has filled The U of M with an average of 500 students eachsummer since 1990.
"These activities force our minds to think," said Calvin Burkesfrom Whitehaven High School. "We are in a team with every race, andwe get to know each other."
Since the program started, the Bridge Builders mission has beento educate students to work with others different fromthemselves.
"We guide students to ask questions on their own, to askquestions that on their own they may shy away from," said MarioHendrix, assistant director of the program and U of M alumnus.
Through activities like trust falls, where students fall from aladder and are caught by their team members, they learn to trustother and cooperate as a team, Hendrix said. "Our entire premise isthat they learn through experience."
As students graduate from high school, the Bridge Buildersalumni who stay in the area go back and volunteer to run theprogram.
"It's a way to give back to it," Hendrix said.
One such volunteer, Dianna Watkins, who graduated from CordovaHigh School this year, is back after two years with theprogram.
As part of the work crew, Watkins came back to "experience beingpart of someone else's Bridge Builders experience," helpingstudents like Calvin first time participant go through theprogram.
The weeklong course is designed to break stereotypes. To do thiseffectively in one week, students not only need to do activitiesduring the day but also take the idea home with them at night, saidHendrix. So participants stay in The U of M dorms to interact withone another on a more personal level.
"I've made a bunch of friends" and have broken some stereotypes,said Lauren Childs, a junior at St. Agnes Academy.
Bridge Builders, sponsored by the United Way, includes more than50 area schools, and nine schools in Knoxville, and the program isfree. Students come from both public and private schools, by whichthey are nominated for participation.
Hendrix has attended the program for eight years, first as astudent and then as a volunteer.
"I got a full understanding of my world," Hendrix said of why hekeeps coming going back. "I want to be a more diverse person aftergoing through the program."
