Bridge Programs

For the college bridge program, click here

School Bridge Program

The ACBL School Bridge Lesson Series program is designed to help you bring the joy of bridge to youth. More than 4000 youngsters participate each year in schools throughout North America. The program is sponsored by the ACBL and includes teacher stipends and free textbooks.

Guidelines for Teachers

YOUR SCHOOL BRIDGE LESSON PROGRAM FROM START TO FINISH 

View as PDF

PROMOTING YOUR EVENT:

Speaking with Schools

When speaking with schools, focus on the organization of the program first, before the benefits of learning bridge. Students will receive a free bound textbook, with a fun quiz at the end of each chapter. The Teacher will receive a Teacher’s Manual that coincides directly with the textbook. EZ Deal Cards are organized deals to help reinforce the lessons in the textbook. All of these supplies and more are provided free of charge by the ACBL. By showing a well-organized and planned activity, schools will feel better about supporting the program. 

ACBL has put together an infographic handout highlighting the lasting benefits of school bridge programs, click here. Use it to describe the program’s features and impact on students.

Recruiting Players

Once a school has agreed to let you offer bridge lessons, you need to recruit students.  Ask the sponsoring teacher to appoint a student to work with you. If the student is enthusiastic about the bridge lessons, word of mouth will be the best advertisement for the bridge class.

Advertising
Pass out fliers and put ads in the school newspaper to help increase awareness. Click here for ad suggestions and templates. Ready-made posters and fliers and other resources can be found here.

Check out the Cooperative Advertising Program for details on how the ACBL can help cover your costs here.

 

ONE MONTH BEFORE YOUR FIRST CLASS:

Register Your Class with the ACBL

Once you have a good idea about the number of students, you can request supplies by clicking the button below.

Register/Order Bridge Program Supplies

Receive Supplies

Upon receipt of your order, you will be sent the following items:

  • Bidding in the 21st Century Teacher Manual; Qty (1) for the teacher
  • Bidding in the 21st Century Book; Qty (1) for each student
  • Bidding in the 21st Century Playing Cards; Qty (1) for every table, or 4 students
  • Drawstring backpack; Qty (1) per student and per teacher as requested
  • Letters to Parents; Qty (1) for copies
  • Student Applications; Qty (1) per student
  • Student Certificates; Qty (1) per student
  • End-of-Class Tournament Packet; Qty (1)
  • Trophies; Qty (4); (2) trophies for the N/S pair winner and (2) for the E/W pair winner

 Complete Consent and Release Forms

In order for the ACBL to accept pictures and/or stories from the class, a Consent and Release form must be completed for each student. Pictures and stories may appear on the ACBL website. These can be scanned or mailed with the final packet at the end of the class.

DURING CLASS: 

Use of Teacher Manual/Books

There is no requirement on the number of lessons that need to be completed in your class. Some classes move faster than others. These books are meant to act as a guide and to give a structure to one method of teaching bridge. Feel free to try different things if you think it would suit your class. We would be particularly interested in hearing about new approaches that are successful. 

Use of Homework Sheets

Homework Sheet can be handed out to work on random deals. Use them as you see fit.

ONE MONTH BEFORE YOUR FINAL CLASS:

Complete Student Certificates

To print certificates, click here.

AFTER COMPLETING YOUR FINAL CLASS: 

End-of-Class Tournament
The End-of-Class tournament is required to receive a stipend and results must be submitted with other stipend request documents. Stipends will not be considered without tournament results.

Teacher Stipend*

You can qualify for a stipend if you are not getting paid more than $150 by the school or other agency for your time. For every class of at least eight students who receive 16 or more hours of bridge instruction and play, you qualify for a $350 stipend. If multiple classes are held, each class will need a separate form listing dates, times and students of that particular class. You may receive a maximum of five (5) stipends per semester. A semester consists of the spring/summer and fall/winter.

To qualify for the stipend, the following must be complete:

All stipend documentation can be scanned and emailed to education@acbl.org. Alternatively, the documentation can be sent to:

Education Department
6575 Windchase Blvd
Horn Lake MS 38637

Stipend requests should be signed by the authorized school or facility administrator* and sent within 30 days of the completion of the class. Requests will not be processed prior to the end-of-class date. Upon receipt of all appropriate and complete documentation, a check will be sent to the home address of the teacher. Teachers must be ACBL members to receive the stipend.

*Teachers cannot sign stipend requests for other teachers in the program.

OPTIONS FOR CONTINUAL LEARNING:

School Bridge Clubs

Teachers are encouraged to work with the schools to establish bridge clubs where lesson graduates can practice. If the students want to start earning masterpoints and you are willing to run games for them, you can get a student game sanctioned by contacting the ACBL Club and Member Services Department at 1-800-264-2743. 

Juniors

Please visit ACBL’s Juniors tab, with your students and explore it together. We hope the students will enjoy this new feature.

BridgeBase.com

This fascinating, free website, www.bridgebase.com, created by world champion player Fred Gitelman, offers many learning opportunities for your students. They can play MiniBridge with each other.  They can reserve a table in an Open Room and practice together and much more. Your students will be more likely to meet and play online if you lead them through the steps necessary to have this experience.

Learn to Play Bridge Download (LTPB)

This is ACBL’s free software designed by Fred Gitelman to teach bridge to a beginner. The LTPB program can be downloaded here.

Learn to Play Bridge Online

Learn to Play Bridge (LTPB) online is an interactive, learn-as-you-play web-based program powered by BridgeBase robots. LTPB online proves a safe environment for players to test and learn new skills. LTPB online can be accessed from any device with an internet connection.

College Bridge Program

For information on college bridge, please click here.