By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The 68 students at The Bridge Academy, all of whom have learning disabilities, have always had someone to advocate for them and help them to succeed.
Last week, it was their turn to help someone else their counterparts at the YCS-George Washington School in Hackensack. The school, which enrolls 96 students who have special needs, suffered flooding from Hurricane Sandy.
Students at The Bridge Academy spent about an hour packing boxes full of sports equipment, including basketballs and soccer balls, as well as musical instruments, to replace items that were damaged by floodwaters at the Hackensack school. The boxes have been shipped to the school.
Susan Morris, the principal of The Bridge Academy, said community service is an important element at the school. It is part of what the students learn; they should help other people if they can, because they have had someone who advocated for them, she said.
When Sandy struck New Jersey, The Bridge Academy lost electrical power, Ms. Morris said. Adath Israel Synagogue, on whose campus of the academy, not lose power. The students moved across the lawn to the synagogue until the electricity was restored.
”This got the students to thinking. They saw photographs of other schools that just got wiped out. At that point, we contacted the Association of Schools and Agencies for the Handicapped (to find a member school that had been affected),” she said.
ASAH matched The Bridge Academy with YCS-George Washington School. Ms. Morris said she contacted the school’s principal, who she said was “so grateful that we were willing to do something for his school.” The principal sent a list of the needed items.
The Bridge Academy sent students to the stores Sports Authority, Toys ‘R Us, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target and the Guitar Store, among others to buy items from the “needs” list, Ms. Morris said. The students were given a budget and told to purchase items with that money.
”The students really enjoyed the team piece of it. They got a great deal of satisfaction out of helping someone else. We took the students to the stores to buy (the items). They had to make calculations (about what to purchase with the money they had),” she said, noting that some of the teams had money left over.
Bridge Academy student Clara Capaldo, who lives in Princeton, said it was nice to be able to help other people, especially when they are in trouble and cannot help themselves. She said she did not realize it was “that bad” in some places, noting that her family lost power for two weeks.
Jordan Santiago, who lives in Beverly and attends The Bridge Academy, agreed that it felt good to help someone else, noting that he and his friends traveled to the Jersey shore to help out. He said he did not think it would be as bad as it turned out to be in some places.

