Students from Woodrow Wilson Visit Princeton-Blairstown Center

PRINCETON, NJ, April 25, 2018 – Students from Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Trenton, NJ spent three days this week at the Princeton-Blairstown Center’s (PBC) Blairstown Campus for their fifth-grade class trip. Woodrow Wilson Elementary School is one of the Trenton School District’s four elementary Bilingual and ESL Centers and they are committed to meeting the needs of all Limited English Proficient students within their school.

Lysette Toro-Mays, the Program Coordinator and 5th Grade Bilingual Teacher from Woodrow Wilson said, “This is the first overnight trip these students have taken. It’s been incredible to watch them learn to work together as a team and solve problems.” Toro-Mays was at the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) last summer, accompanying students from Wilson for PBC’s Summer Bridge Program and again last month for a half-day retreat, so she knew what a positive experience it would be for her students.

Because of budget constraints, the last time that Woodrow Wilson 5th graders were able to participate in an overnight trip of this kind was during the 2013-14 school year. Thanks to a generous grant from the George H. and Estelle M. Sands Foundation, PBC was able to provide the three-day-two-night trip free of charge for the students. The school was asked to provide the transportation. With budgets depleted, one teacher secured a donor to cover two-thirds of the cost of a bus. Students helped to fundraise by selling snacks and parents made small donations to cover the remaining costs.

At school, students participated in character education and co-operative learning activities across all disciplines as a precursor for attending the trip. PBC worked with the staff at Woodrow Wilson to design a program that provided the experience they wanted for their students. At PBC, they worked on important 21st Century skills like team-building, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and respect. Students and teachers hope to make the Princeton-Blairstown Center experience their annual 5th grade trip.

About the Princeton-Blairstown Center

The Princeton-Blairstown Center is an independent nonprofit with a mission to empower young people, primarily from under-resourced communities, to strengthen their social-emotional skills through experiential, environmental, and adventure-based programming. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) includes five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Our wide variety of year-round, multi-service programs serve nearly 8,000 participants each year.