The Bridge: A School/Community Partnership  is a non-profit organization that recruits, screens, trains, and places volunteers in the Melrose Public Schools (preschool through high school).  The Bridge annually registers over 1000 volunteers who bring diverse cultures, skills, experiences and perspectives as they contribute their time, talent, and expertise in our public schools.  The Bridge creates and maintains a database of volunteers which is a heavily used resource for educators who are looking for volunteers with specific experience to enrich student learning. The Bridge also ensures there are volunteers to manage the elementary school libraries (entirely led by parent volunteers), and that the local elementary school PTO organizations coordinate and share best practices.   The Bridge also collaborates with middle and high school teachers and directors to offer special events that expose students to different careers and make real world connections to the curriculum.  Recent examples of this include ‘Women in STEM’ panel discussions, a virtual panel discussion with local Veterans, as well as pairing up high school seniors with mentors from the community.  The Bridge also organizes Melrose's annual Community Reading Day, and in the past coordinated required vision and hearing screenings at all schools.

The Annual Trivia Bee & Silent Auction is The Bridge’s largest fundraiser, and provides the vast majority of the operating budget for The Bridge. It allows The Bridge to continue all of these functions and provides the means for us to find new ways to serve our schools and community.  This year's event will be in person, and we expect over 200 participants and spectators for the trivia event and approximately 500+ individuals to view our silent auction offerings.  Sponsors and donors will be thanked before, during, and after the event in our social media, and via print media. All sponsors will also be thanked in our email newsletter that goes to our 2000+ person mailing list.