Welcome Beta2 Class!

Last year, we ran out of Greek letters to name our classes and had to start over again with Alpha2. Maybe back in 1997 it seemed unfathomable that Bridges would still be going strong 26 years later.

Yet here we are, welcoming another class of students from across Greenville County to join the Bridges tradition.

The process of selecting a class of 25 rising high school sophomores begins with receiving nominations from our local high schools and community partners. This year we received more than 100 nominations.

Bridges welcomes the following 25 rising sophomores to its 26th class:

Berea High School: Amari Riley-Cannon, Azyriah Ballenger

Blue Ridge High School: Ethan McCready, Skye Tooley

Carolina High School: Savanna Barrett

Eastside High School: Deidelyne Navarro Martinez

Fountain Inn High School: Ashlyn Cabral

Greenville Early College: Lyndsi Jackson

Greenville Senior High School: Sincere Davis, Diamond Lovett

Greenville Technical Charter High School: Abanoub Haron, Star Smith

Greer High School: Braden Foster

Greer Middle College: Nolan Benjamin

Hillcrest High School: Tomas Mondragon

JL Mann High School: Adrian Kelly, Mya Hill-Tejeda

Legacy Early College: Tilo Lopez, Joselyn Pastor

Mauldin High School: Tijay Heyward

Riverside High School: Bailey Sweezey

Southside High School: Araceli Galvan

Travelers Rest High School: Azharion Cureton

Wade Hampton High School: Mikala Fullmore-Watson

Woodmont High School: Jada Wilson

This class includes 15 students who identify as female and 10 who identify as male. The class identifies as 40% African-American, 24% Latinx, 20% white, and 16% other or multi-ethnic. Average household income for selected students is below $30,000. All are first-generation, meaning they would be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college.

Students are selected based on academic and leadership potential demonstrated through 9th grade, family financial need, a clean discipline record, and their willingness to overcome the major barriers in their life to work toward a college education. Once accepted, students participate in the year-round program throughout their high school career and into college for a total of seven years.

We aim to help students gain confidence and discover their strengths, enabling them to overcome any financial barriers or personal circumstances in order to excel in school and stay on the path to college, career, and financial stability, breaking the cycle of poverty for future generations.