Young experts program

Our Flagship Program- Young Experts Program (YEP)

The Young Expert Program (Badges) is a highly personalized, capstone learning model that invites high school (Los Angeles and Online) students to deeply explore a chosen topic as they develop skills in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and other vital areas. The role of technology as a platform for practicing and applying these skills is paramount, as using technology effectively and productively is a requisite skill in the modern world.

The scope of all badge work involves explicit interdisciplinary awareness resulting in a thorough, expert-level coverage of their topic and/or area of exploration. Students who demonstrate a disciplinary expertise through concentrated work in a field-related badge may earn a formal honors credit and certification as a “Young Expert” in the field.

Developing young expertise is a key facet of the program

At Bridges a Young Expert is one who:

Has an authoritative knowledge of the subject

Can think deeply about the topic

Considers the source/facts

Can replicate experiments, make logical connections, and verify observations

Can analyze, evaluate, and synthesize data across multiple disciplines to create new ideas, theories, and inventions

Can provide well-informed recommendations related to the area of expertise

Students in our Young Experts Program are coached and mentored by faculty, staff, and at times external subject matter experts from the field. The Young Experts Program provides an exceptional grounding and equal support for students as they prepare for college level study or work requiring deep knowledge.

Recent graduates have completed their Badges in a wide variety of fields. Three such examples include:

A student who is passionate and committed to pursuing dance at the highest level applied to a prestigious dance conservatory in Pittsburgh, was accepted, and moved there to study. He can now pursue dance at a college/semi-professional level in high school while continuing to study at Bridges through our virtual high school, Bridges Academy Online

A student found his true calling as a storyteller through his projects in YEP, and infuses his creative work with his other passions, psychology and therapy, so the thematic content of his work is helpful to humanity and inspires others. Through YEP, he also birthed a production company for film, TV and animated series with his collaborators.

Another student has been on an epic journey to achieve a masters-level understanding of literature before leaving high school. The student worked with many high level professionals in the field, has been invited to speak at professional writers' events, and has even used their work with YEP to help get a portion of his first creative writing work published in a professional anthology of stories that is publicly available for sale on Amazon.

What will you become a Young Expert in from your time at Bridges? We can’t wait to support you!