The tuition-free program—celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025—is a crucial component of GFS’ commitment to ongoing support of community education, a pillar of the Picture This campaign.

Part of the magic of Breakthrough are the connections forged between the 196 local middle school Scholars, all of whom attend Philadelphia public, charter, and parochial schools, and the 34 Teaching Fellows, who are high school and college students interested in becoming teachers. These two groups are just a handful of years apart in age, and in classrooms maxed out at 15 students, their experiences together create a dynamic exchange of learning. Breakthrough offers core academic classes, including math, science, writing, and literature, as well as elective classes, like world languages, dance, and art.

“Breakthrough’s near-peer model is the secret sauce of the program,” says Michelle Palmer, Breakthrough’s Executive Director. “When you bring together middle school students and college-aged teaching fellows, there is an amazing energy that comes alive. Our students connect with our teaching fellows on a deep level with respect and admiration, and it makes the learning fun!”

One component of the dual-mission program is to empower underserved, highly-motivated students to succeed in middle school and improve their chances of matriculating to selective high schools, while inspiring a lifelong love of learning and openness to possibility. The other is to build the next generation of diverse, talented teachers with pre-professional training. Approximately 75% of Breakthrough Teaching Fellows go on to pursue careers in education. 

Breakthrough’s summer begins two weeks ahead of the Scholars’ first day, when the Teaching Fellows meet for a rigorous orientation and receive training, coaching, and mentorship from seasoned teachers from the GFS faculty and the School District of Philadelphia.

Over the course of the two-week period, they learn lesson plan preparation, instructional strategies, and feedback techniques, which lays the groundwork for the intense work to come (by the end of the summer, each Fellow will rack up 300 hours of hands-on classroom teaching). The orientation also provides a platform for the Teaching Fellows to bond with one another, as many of them share passions around social justice, education, and service.

Shamar’s Full-Circle Breakthrough Story

Shamar Long attended Breakthrough in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade and says it helped enormously with getting ahead going into the next school year. In his middle school years, he said he had a “mind-to-mouth” connection problem. Especially in English and literature classes, he had a lot of ideas and opinions, but often couldn’t articulate them.

“I’d have so much to say in my mind, but trying to share it and have it make sense to another person was hard for me,” he says. “Breakthrough really helped me pin down my thoughts and get them on paper.”

In 2023, after his sophomore year at Villanova University, Long decided to come back to Breakthrough to be a Teaching Fellow. As a business major, he didn’t have a direct interest in teaching; he just thought it would be a fun way to spend the summer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he chose to teach seventh grade literature.

“I didn’t have anything planned for the summer yet, so I was like, I’ll come back and do this,” Long laughs. “And then I did it, and then I wanted to do it again. Actually, after the first year, I changed my minor to education.”

Part of the reason that Long wanted to return for a second Breakthrough summer was because of the impact he saw his presence have on the Scholars in the program.

“Having a Black male teacher in America is very rare; the Scholars seeing me in that role can help change their mindsets about themselves,” Long says. “So it’s not just about teaching, but about helping them understand that they’re worth teaching. It’s about them seeing that learning and learning about yourself does more for your future than you think.” 

This summer, Long is teaching eighth grade literature; his students are reading and discussing “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. Part of the way he builds rapport and establishes trust with his students is by creating an open culture (with understood boundaries) in his classroom.

“My classroom is values-based and very chill; I don’t use slides, and I sit on the same level with them,” he notes. “At the same time, there is a respect—I am their teacher, but I also want them to know that I understand where they’re coming from.”     

In addition to teaching, Long is the Spirit Leader at Breakthrough, which is a major factor in the lively, social nature of the program. Long and his colleagues plan the All-School meetings that take place each day after lunch. During this time, the Scholars and Teaching Fellows come together in Yarnall Auditorium in GFS' Sharpless Building to chant and cheer, to play “Word of the Day” (featuring common PSSA and PSAT vocabulary words) and other games, like Family Feud, Jeopardy-style trivia, and rock-paper-scissors tournaments. Cohorts of Scholars, called Small Learning Communities, compete for points to win pizza parties and bragging rights. 

Support Beyond the Summer

Breakthrough’s reach extends well past the summer. The Scholars return to GFS every Saturday during the school year for further focused instruction in math, literature, and writing, test-prep support, and life skills enrichment; Thursday evenings are Community Connections, when the scholars spend time with GFS Upper Schoolers for tutoring, dinner, and relaxed social time. Breakthrough’s wrap-around commitment to students goes beyond middle school, too; a free college-readiness workshop series, College Bound, is offered to Breakthrough alumni in high school.

Darren Spielman ’90 sits on the Advisory Board of Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, and served as its Executive Director from 2004 through 2009. He sums up the power of the program:

“The kids get really intensive academic enrichment, because they have these really motivated, talented Teaching Fellows who are near-peers and working under the tutelage of master GFS teachers,” Spielman says. “But even more important than the technical skills they're getting is the attitude and approach to hard work, problem-solving, and the joy of learning. They're getting a toolkit that can be transferred to whatever problem they're trying to address later in life.”

The Bakali Brothers’ Breakthrough Journey

Jakob and Joshua Bakali are twin brothers currently entering tenth grade at GFS. They started as Breakthrough Scholars when they were in sixth grade; at the time, they attended Ad Prima Charter School, and were both accepted to GFS in ninth grade. The brothers note that, just as Breakthrough opened doors for them in Middle School, College Bound is helping pave the way toward higher education.

“College Bound told us how many applications we should try to send out, and taught us some ways to get scholarships,” Jakob says. “We did interview practice and wrote some sample college essays which really prepared us for the college application process.” 

“Financial aid is a really big thing, and the classes helped demystify the process,” Joshua adds. “We got to create resumes, too.”  

The brothers are serious students who strive for high grades and are always thinking about the next step. After graduating from GFS, Joshua and Jakob both hope to study computer science, and are eyeing universities like Brown and Georgetown. They credit Breakthrough with helping them forge their paths forward.

“Breakthrough has helped me a lot, especially the mentors,” Jakob says. “Most of them have gone or are going to college, and they’re so open about everything. I definitely recommend Breakthrough to students who want to go to the next level.”    

To learn more about Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, a program powered by Germantown Friends School, visit its website and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or contact Michelle Palmer, Executive Director, at mpalmer@breakthroughphilly.org or 267-255-9651.

Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia has received some great press this year! 

• Marcella Baietto segment on CBS News (June 13)
• Shaynah Ferreira segment on FOX 29 (June 25)
• A Conversation with Michelle Palmer on WURD Radio (July 2)
• Nydia Han Speaks with Breakthrough Students on 6abc (July 18)
• 2024 Spring Soiree featured in Philadelphia Magazine (July 24)
• BTGP Teaching Fellows featured in Chalkbeat Philadelphia (August 16)