Write It. Read It. Love It.

As you know by now, Jumpstart is a national early education organization that recruits and trains college students and community Corps members to serve preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. Our proven curriculum helps children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be ready for kindergarten, setting them on a path to close the achievement gap before it is too late. An essential part of what we do at Jumpstart DC at American University is read.  Our activities are all based around our core storybooks, each telling a different story for children to explore.  We will now be embarking on a 6-month project to create our own storybooks for our students to explore, read and love.

With your help, we will be creating a 12-15 story anthology, which will be self-published and distributed to the seven preschools classrooms Jumpstart DC at American University services.  These stories are meant to be unique.  They can be retelling of classic stories or your own original story!  Stories need to be written and illustrated on 8 ½ x 11 paper and can be submitted electronically or in person.  Submissions should be 50-1000 words.

These stories can be fiction or non-fiction.  Consider making a story about DC or about a 4-5 year old.
Some examples of stories are: “A Day with Jayden in Jumpstart,” “Alanah the Explorer” (playing off Dora the Explorer) , “Khayla and the Snake” (if your child likes snakes), Alphabet Book – theme the book around a particular theme.  You can also retell a classic story in your own words.

If you work with children (in Jumpstart or elsewhere), brainstorm about that child’s particular interests: what they like to play with?  What did they talk about most often?

Be sure to make it colorful with lots of pictures.  Children love colors and pictures!  Use characters and ideas your children can relate to.

If you would like to only author a story or illustrate, please let us know.  There will be several opportunities to do so!

The first round of submissions is due on May 16th.  There will be several additional rounds after that, should you not be able to meet that deadline.  

For questions or to submit your story, please contact:
Stacia Jackson
Site Manager, Jumpstart DC at American University
On campus: Gray Hall 115
Email: staciaj@american.edu
Phone: 202.885.3157

The Stuff in the Office: My Year as the Jumpstart Program Assistant

A running conversation that I have with my site manager is along of the lines of, “How much stuff can you fit in here?” “Have we run out of space yet?” “Uh… where are we going to put these (insert item)?” To put it simply, the office has a lot of stuff in it.

Recently, Jumpstart helped host a service project with the School of Education here at AU. The service project was creating literacy kits for our partner children. Faculty and staff assembled blank books, coloring books, and wrapped new and donated children’s books. They even had a chance to write a small letter to the children receiving the books. From our office we pulled out, scissors for 8 tables, a few yards of tissue paper for wrapping, three balls of yarn, 16+ packets of foam stickers, at least 6 children’s letter writing kids, an assortment of crayons, markets, and metallic markers, and to top it all off—30 tote bags. The staff was amazed.

That was only the tip of the iceberg. Behind the door there are 6 dolphin piñatas because one of the core story books revolves around a girl who becomes attached to her dog piñata (and subsequently is unwilling to part with it). To the right of the door is a wall lined with the 14 purple Jansport backpacks that the team leaders use to carry all their session plan materials.

Further to the back of the office are 15 drawers full of session plan materials that range from mundane glue sticks to mini harmonicas. There is reason to the random chaos in those drawers. Jumpstart has a whole unit devoted to shadows and reflections, which explains the magnifying glasses, kaleidoscopes, metallic tissue paper, sunglasses, and mirror paper. Another unit is about the family, hence the draw full of baby dolls, baby bottles, and the boxes of plastic fruit (I can only imagine the faces of the front office when the box of babies came in the mail).

Being in the office is more than just sitting at the computer sending emails and making spreadsheets. All of this stuff (the 14 packs of crayons, 20 packs of markers, 6 dolphin piñatas, 14 purple backpacks, the 920+ children’s books) plays a vital and distinct role in children’s learning. Through preparing materials for sessions, inquiring about the seemingly peculiar purchases, and observing sessions, I can now see the bigger picture. That kaleidoscope just isn’t just a cool new thing to play with, but through play and meaningful interactions with adults it becomes a tool to connect real life with literature in order to build upon student comprehension.

After all my time in the office, I have come to the final conclusion that all this stuff… is more than just stuff.

-Lanny Pham
Program Assistant
Team Office

It’s Never Goodbye, but always see you later alligator

My journey with Jumpstart is officially over! Even though we are all going different places this upcoming year, both our kids and corps members, there will always be a special bond that unites us together. There is no way that I could summarize what an amazing journey this has been. Instead, I’ve written a little poem that captures our voyage: it’s never goodbye, but always see you later alligator. Regardless of if you are a returning or not, Jumpstart is a community that works together for a common good. Hopefully one day the students we teach will be in the position to also give back. Thankfully we have the wonderful opportunity to plant this seed and watch it grow. I am definitely proud to say I was a Jumpstart corps member. Couldn’t think of any better way to spend my last year as a college student.

“It’s Never Goodbye, but always see you later alligator”

The time has come

To say goodbye

And although some

Will question why

Soon time will tell

That all is well

And back at Sunshine we will be

To share more books

And sing more songs

Recite more poems

And play along

And even though, the song for now is:  “Goodbye Jumpstart”

The journey has only just begun

Time will elapse

Summer will pass

And Jumpstart will be back once more

To sing for the children that we adore: “It’s time to put the books away and come to Circle Time”

Remember that: It’s never goodbye, but always see you later alligator!

-Danielle Jones

Team Leader

Team Kindness

Beyond Jumpstart

Now that the year is coming to a close, I am realizing how much more I probably learned from my kiddos than they learned from me. Certainly, we will both leave with an exponential amount of training, support, and the intangible and palpable takeaways. I feel, though, that at this point in my learning career, I can apply this experience to many parts of life. I have a much better understanding of what it will be like working with socioeconomically disadvantaged children. I am far more cross culturally cognizant than ever before. I think it takes an incredibly adept individual to understand the cross-cultural barriers between social classes and consider them with competence. My families have shown me that being disadvantaged does not equate to bad parenting, less love and support, or negligence. I have really gained a better understanding of what it means to be a parent and a child in this environment. I hope I can learn more about these chasms during my time in India working with trafficking victims. I’ve also been able to apply my studies to understanding life in the periphery. Marginalized individuals in the periphery have a higher potential for violations and offenses internationally. Providing an education to children immediately enables them to circumvent so many routes to destructive ends.

I think the expansion of our team benefitted our children infinitely. The smaller groups and extended individual attention led to higher productivity and learning for each child. My kids’ learning was so enriched by each story and reconstruction. Centers were always thought-provoking and good conversations happened at every session. I am so thankful for what happened this year. As anyone else, I am going to miss my kids a ton, and I hope only the best for them.

~Leanza Bethel

Corps member

Team Learning 2

Good-bye Jumpstart it’s time for us to part

I can still remember the day I discovered Jumpstart. I remember when I returned home after Eagle Summit I sat myself down and I was determined to finish the application and send it in. I remember my interview day and how I was so nervous to meet with my site manager. I laugh thinking back to that because honestly I had nothing to fear. I remember meeting my team at training for the first time, not knowing at the time that these strangers would one day become my family.

Jumpstart really has become my second family while attending AU. From my team members to my partner children, each and every one of them is important to me. I am so glad that I was able to participate in such an amazing program and that I have had the opportunity to work with such amazing children. Each session was it’s own mini adventure, filled with ups and downs and surprises with every passing minute. I was able to watch my children grow with each session. I can still remember session plan one, first implementation welcome. My kids couldn’t tell me what letters were what in their names, they just knew it was there name. Now, my kids can spell their names and make all the sounds.

 Our partner children are superheroes with fantastic values. We taught them kindness and respect, determination, a love of learning, the magical world of books, and much more. The list goes on and on. But something we never really focus on is what our children teach us. I know that we are the teachers in the classroom and we are the ones who are education our students but something all teachers should do is learn from their students. I know that I have. My children have taught me to appreciate the little things, find joy and happiness in everything, that imagination is the most powerful tool, that sometimes session plans aren’t followed, and most importantly, according to one of my partner children, matching socks are a must! 

Saying goodbye to Jumpstart is hard. I will miss my children, my team and my site manager. I know that it will be ok though. I have watched my partner children grow and I have high hopes for them in kindergarten. I say good bye to Jumpstart with a heavy heart and I will miss it. Jumpstart was a fantastic journey that I was lucky enough to be a part of. So with that said,

Good-bye Jumpstart

Good-bye Jumpstart 

Good-bye Jumpstart

It’s time for us to part

Veronica Pereira

Team Joy 2  

Are your glasses attached to your eyeballs?

The level of inquisitiveness and observation that my Jumpstart buddies possess never ceases to amaze me. The weather in Washington D.C just decided to drastically change from chilly to burning hot. The first day of this odd weather, one of our partner children immediately noticed and explained that it must be really hot outside because we all were missing our Jumpstart jackets. While this observation seemed superficial, I was still impressed and am continually by such connections. Another example happened the other day I came into session with contacts in when I normally wear pretty prominent glasses. One of my buddies immediately asked me if my glasses were attached to my eyeballs today and if he could see them. Opening my eyes wide at his level, I was shocked by his unbelievably accurate description. He was able to describe something that I barely give thought to in the most practical yet creative way. This is by far my favorite part of working with my partner children this year. Just when I am unsure if the repetition of vocab and concepts soaks into their minds at all, or just passes through their tiny ears, they again surprise me. Their cross-curriculum references still catch me off guard in the best way. The times when someone asks me if I had red jam this morning on my bagel like in Dogs Colorful Day or assure me that their cat is safe from the storm like in One Dark Night, I can’t help but feel accomplished and proud. These amazing moments of synthesis remind me that we, as Jumpstart, actually are making a difference in at least one child’s life.  Whether it is tomorrow eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, or in ten years when they are getting fitted for contacts, somewhere deep in their brain will know that Jumpstart planted this seed. These 300 direct service hours have not only reminded me of my purpose in enriching our partner children’s learning, but also has increased my own appreciation and observations. Jumpstart has facilitated a new love and understanding of my own education, interpersonal interactions, and future. For that I am deeply grateful to Stacia and the entire American University Jumpstart family, the teachers and staff at Sunshine, and all of our fantastic partner children.  Now when I attach my glasses to my eyeballs, I see so much clearer from a four year olds point of view.

~Athena Roesler
Corps member
Team Connection

It’s All Worth it in the End!

I’m nearing the end of Jumpstart, and I almost don’t want to stop. It seems like even through all the hard work, the time flew by so quickly. I can remember our first weekend of training just thinking ad asking myself what did I get into. I was also amazed at how structured the program is and I didn’t quite understand why Jumpstart wanted its corps members to think a certain way, act a certain way, and respond to children in a specific way. It wasn’t making any sense to me, but one thing I did know was that I was NOT quitting, I would stick it out till the end and try to give it my best.

Now looking back on this journey I have to take a deep breath and remember the times I would stay up till 6am in the morning prepping my center and going over core storybooks. I look back and almost want to shudder but instead I smile because the numerous hours I put into prepping my session was worth it when I see my children’s faces when session was over. I could see the joy and hope on their faces knowing that we would come back to them with more fun stuff!

I believe whole-heartedly that my children are aware Jumpstart is coming to an end, because they all seem extremely well behaved and they start saying things like I love you, or your hair looks nice, or just random things during session that I cant help but smile or laugh at. I think they either know its coming to an end, or we’ve just grown on each other in a way that I and my children are so comfortable with each other that I can understand them more and see who they really are, and the same for them. If the latter is the case then where we have grown on each other leaving is almost scary. But I will say that my site manager was right; at the end of Jumpstart you realized that you have started calling he Jumpstart kids “My Children” rather than “the kids”, and from that I know that they did grow on me and I come to terms with the fact that I’m leaving, but still cherish the times my children and I had together and help each other. All I know is that it’s all worth it in the end, and I wouldn’t mind doing it all over again!

~Osato Aibangbee
Corps members
Team Learning 1