In response to the No Child Left Behind Act, high school mathematics educators have been forced to redesign their curriculums to comply with state standards. These changes have led to improvements in mathematics education; however, more needs to be done. There continues to be a growing number of students who enter college unprepared for college level mathematics courses. To compensate for this deficit, many universities offer summer programs to bridge the gap and prepare students to take college level courses in the fall semester. It has been my experience for the 10 years to teach such a course; however, I have not felt that my course has been entirely effective. My intentions are to help students over come their math phobia, but I needed to change the direction of my class to truly engage my students. This past summer I initiated two new strategies: journaling and an ethnomathematically focus curriculum.