It’s a typical Tuesday morning at Plantation Oaks Elementary and at least one 5th grade classroom is full of card players anxious to get their weekly bridge session underway. The students are shuffling the cards and dealing the hands. The new program, called “Bridge in Schools” in sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The group aims to teach children the intricate and complicated game, which was invented over 100 years ago. The game of bridge is said to help with logic, sequencing, probability, and memory. Studies have shown that students who play the card game on a regular basis see growth in multiple subject areas including social studies, science, math, grammar, and reading. Bridge is fundamentally a game of statistics, but it also encompasses communication skills, reasoning skills, team problem-solving, and critical-thinking.

Plantation Oaks recently held its first Bridge Tournament that hosted about 20 youngsters from Plantation Oaks, Oakleaf Junior High and St. John’s Country Day School. “The students had a great time and learned many new techniques,” says 5th Grade Reading Teacher, Sandy Brusca. “A huge thank you to Sharon Carter who was instrumental in bringing this program to the schools and to Marsha Miller who faithfully comes to the classrooms to help with the games each week,” says Brusca.