Every summer Breakthrough Minneapolis at Blake (BMB) teaching fellows come up with a theme—a six letter word and acronym— that grounds and guides the program for the upcoming year. In a foreshadowing of the fun we would have, the fellows chose KACHOW, the catchphrase of Lightning McQueen, the main character in “Cars.” In the movie, Kachow was an “exclamation that represented excitement, enthusiasm or a feeling of triumph and accomplishment” (ChatGPT, 8/20/24). BMB’s summer of 2024 was definitely KACHOW!
Over nine weeks, 28 teaching fellows, department interns and instructional coaches developed, supported and led classes like Geometry: Graphing with Cartoon Characters, Greek Mythology in Modern Media, and Making Sense of School: Education and Change in America. These young leaders and aspiring teachers not only learned about the teaching profession and developed critical teaching skills, they worked extremely hard creating a welcoming, fun and engaging six-week program for 71 rising seventh through tenth grade student scholars aimed at improving their academic, social-emotional and job-readiness skills.
Additionally, high school-aged BMB students joined us on Fridays over the summer to take part in college preparation workshops on subjects such as making a strong college list, financial aid and understanding the college admissions process.
In an example of how special this summer was, we asked third-year teaching fellow Chris Sanders what surprised them most about this year, and they said, “What surprised me most this summer was how energetic and amazing our seventh graders were. Usually, they come in timid and allow the older students to run the program. However, this year the seventh graders took BMB by storm with their enthusiasm for the program and willingness to put their all into it. Every single one exemplified elements of a Breakthrough Champion, and it was really refreshing to see that energy being brought so effortlessly into the summer.” That sounds like the power of KACHOW!