Summer 2025!

“Thank you, Breakthrough, for believing in me when I doubted myself, for always challenging me to do my best, for pushing me to step out of my comfort zone, and for always reminding me that I am never alone in this journey. To all the Breakthrough students sitting in front of me today, know that this program is a gift. Embrace it, learn from it, work hard, and let it transform you.” – Crystina, BTM Scholar alumna, second-year Teaching Fellow, and first-year nursing student at Rivier University

Breakthrough just completed our 34th summer with 24 college-aged Teaching Fellows and 80 middle school Scholars teaching, learning, and embracing new experiences together. Some summer highlights include:

• In 7th-grade Pre-Algebra, students created a human number line to help them understand the placement of rational numbers. Scholars practiced fraction simplification, square roots, and identified positive and negative numbers to determine their place on the number line while strengthening group dynamics through communication, collaboration, and social skills.
• M&Ms in 8th-grade Chemistry helped identify the difference between a solvent and a solute. Students created hypotheses and procedures to determine that water was the solvent and M&Ms the solute. 
• Our 8th-grade Literature students read Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, grappling with how the Younger family should invest an insurance payout. They participated in their first debate, which helped them articulate ideas, build confidence in public speaking, and formulate constructive arguments to support their positions.
• Ninth-grade Writing students explored the concept of translation by altering diction and syntax. After reading Jhumpa Lapari’s short story, Interpreter of Maladies, they rewrote the ending, being challenged to match the author’s diction and syntax while exploring character decision-making. Scholars were so engaged in this lesson that they sought each other out during recess to continue sharing their ideas with their peers and Teaching Fellows!

In addition to all that happens in morning academic classes:

• Grade Level Challenges offer many first-time exploration adventures for our Scholars while creating a class bonding experience. Ninth graders love taking the ferry to Star Island on the Isles of Shoals to learn about the island’s history, sustainability initiatives, and marine life. Eighth graders head north for a boarding school tour, followed by a rewarding hike up Rattlesnake Mountain. Our new seventh graders explore Derryfield’s campus with a scavenger hunt and fun team-building activities!
• Breakthrough Scholars were surprised with a Directors’ Holiday when classes were called off, and everybody headed to the Manchester Millyard for a day of adventure. College teams rotated between educational and engaging activities at the SEE Science Center, the Manchester Millyard Museum, and Vertical Dreams climbing gym. Both Scholars and Teaching Fellows appreciated this “holiday!”.
• Teaching Fellows produced a College Fair, with each Fellow showcasing their respective school. This prompted students to consider college choices and offered them the opportunity to ask questions before heading out for two days of college campus visits. In New Hampshire, we visited Colby Sawyer College and NHTI (NH Technical Institute) with the 7th grade, Rivier and Nashua Community College with our 8th grade, and SNHU (Southern New Hampshire University) with our 9th grade. In Boston, we visited Boston University, MIT, and Northeastern, as well as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the MIT Museum.

College is woven throughout each Breakthrough summer. Students and Teaching Fellows compete on six college teams. Olympics and Spirit Day are favorite community-building events; the creativity, collaboration, spirit, and fun are contagious. Competitions range from artistic with cheer and shield creation, to academic with mind-benders and homework completion, to athletic with the perennial favorites dodgeball and tug-of-war, to just plain silly – like soapy watermelon relays! 

Teaching Fellows create safe spaces for conversations about applying to colleges, and what it is like to live and learn on a college campus or study abroad. Students visit at least two colleges each summer. They enjoyed a personal tour of Boston University and Colby-Sawyer from Teaching Fellows who are students there. One of our BTM Scholar alumnae attributes her 7th-grade Breakthrough tour to attending and graduating from Colby-Sawyer College! These college visits allow our students to envision themselves in college and beyond!

CLAP IN! CLAP OUT! 

Clap-in/clap-out is held annually on the first day of Breakthrough’s summer program. For Clap-in, seventh graders are welcomed as they begin their Breakthrough journey; and for Clap-out, the BTM-College Bound Class of 2025 high school graduates and our 2025 college graduates are celebrated as their Breakthrough journey comes to a close. This ceremony is a powerful full-circle moment, allowing our newest Scholars to see where the Breakthrough journey will take them, as the graduates reflect on where their Breakthrough journey commenced and how they have matured and benefited from the program. 

Thank you to our Community Partners!

Breakthrough thrives because of the generous support of our partners in the greater Manchester community and beyond. Thank you to The Derryfield School and Southern New Hampshire  University for hosting Breakthrough programming and providing many in-kind supports. Thank you to the Manchester School District and our many partners for their collaboration in supporting Breakthrough Scholars and their families. Most of all, thank you to all who have donated funds or services to launch our programming. Your support paves the path to college for our Breakthrough Scholars, inspiring and empowering them all along the way. We can’t wait to see the places they’ll go!