Last weekend I went home to San Francisco, or more specifically, Hillsborough, California. I attended two out of three elementary schools, one being called “North School” while living in Hillsborough. At North, each student was required to help out in some sort of community activity such as helping out with the lower grades or working at the Bridge School. I was one of the very few in my class to choose the Bridge School.

The Bridge School was not something you’d find at an average elementary school. The definition provided on the website “a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies.” I have vivid memories of working with a girl who had a tube through her belly button so she could eat, and a boy who could not speak or walk. I worked mostly with the boy, hand feeding him, playing with him, and reading to him. I was ten, and he was thirteen, but I felt like we were on the same page. I’m not sure about what happened to him after I graduated, and I’m not sure if he’d remember me, but I do know that I’ll always remember him.

Every year since first initial concert in 1986 with Neil Young headlining, the Bridge School has successfully brought together numerous artists from every genre to perform at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, only an hour drive from the Bridge School. This year, I was fortunate enough to attend it.

As my friend and I excited the freeway in her small ford focus, we were immediately wedged in a traffic jam, miles away from the actual amphitheatre. Even though it had been raining for several days and was still raining, thousand of people were still driving in to contribute to such a worthy cause. We ended up parking in a once dusty, but now muddy, field a decently long walk from the entrance. People poured in from all directions and the crowded arena served as proof. Practically every spot on the general audience’s grass seating was taken, even if it was muddy. We chose a spot on the lower right hand side were we proceeded to watch several bands, Modest Mouse, Grizzly Bear, and Billy Idol, play short sets while the score of the Giants game was announced in every transition. Even though we left a few acts, it still remains one of the very few, major highlights of my life.

If you want to know more about the Bridge School and the concert, you can visit www.bridgeschool.com for more information.