Young Business Men Making Their Mark in Our Community

Fred Bridges is determined to close achievement gaps for bilingual students one district at a time. A teacher from Georgia, he relocated to New Jersey to help fight illiteracy. Bridges works for McGraw Hill Publishing and adamantly supports the phonics program to help lay the foundation for learning for K-third grade. He said it is important to reach these students at a young age to benefit them in older grades. "Many Spanish students need to understand the concept of their own language before they learn to speak English." He said many students can speak their language but can't write it. "This is a major issue in the country. There are many American illiterates working but are unable to fill out a document or read a map." He noted people need to be able to fill out applications to be functioning citizens.

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