Joy in the Community

Our community service project was at the Anacostia River Gardens Aquatic Park. Unfortunately, we did not go to the correct spot when we got there, even though we thought we did. It all happened so fast. As soon as we parked the car and got out, this very welcoming man was so excited to see us and told us exactly where to go. Apparently, that particular day was the community service day for the entire Aquatic Park; therefore many local people were serving in various locations all around the river. Although we were taken to the garden area and were helping the staff with gardening all day, the feeling of joy was never lost. It was such an amazing experience. Seeing so many locals taking the time out of their busy schedules to serve alongside our team made everyone feel so happy. True joy can be seen when a community comes together in an act of service. 

Joy is one of the predominant aspects of a community lifestyle. In order to build a stronger community, there needs to be joy in the atmosphere. We clearly saw this during our service project. All of the staff members were so nice and helpful, and you could see the joy and happiness in their eyes when we were helping them. Another time when people could feel the presence of joy in the air was when we all stopped working to eat lunch together, as a community. Just sitting down and eating together with so many other local people made it feel like a true community had been established. Our initial service project may not have gone exactly how we had planned, but that didn’t matter because, in the end, joy was felt everywhere in the park. 

~Team Joy 2

Mini Wake-Up Call

It is incredibly easy to underestimate the learning capacity of the children we teach in Jumpstart. I first recognized this during the second implementation of Noisy Nora. The second implementation was after Thanksgiving Break meaning there was a whole week in between the first time I read my children the book and the second time I would be reading it to them. Because of this large gap in between implementations, I walked into the classroom on Tuesday thinking that my kids would not remember the story and that instead of reading for reconstruction, I’d probably have to end up doing more of an ‘enjoyment’ read since there’s no way they would remember the story well. Although children are very smart and retain information well, I was not expecting my kids to fully remember the story well. Boy was I wrong.

I walked into the classroom and went through the basic welcome procedures. We went through name cards and we briefly talked about how they spent their Thanksgiving. We sat down to read Noisy Nora and I began to probe them with the reconstruction questions. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that not only were they answering all of my questions correctly and helping me tell the story but they were actually getting bored with my slow pace. “I already know Nora is in the closet! Turn the page please!” one of my kids said to me before I even got to the third page of the book. I found that hilarious because here I was, trying to ease them into the story because I underestimated their retention skills and they exceeded my expectations. At that point, I upped up the rigor of the reconstruction a little bit and my kids ended up successfully helping me retell the story of Noisy Nora.

I learned a very valuable lesson that day: our kids are very smart. I knew that these kids were intelligent from the beginning but I did not know just how intelligent. I look at these three, four, and five year olds and although I know they are smart, I, as well as others I’m sure, underestimate their skills because of their age. It is very easy to forget how quickly kids learn when they are younger and that speed of learning is what makes Jumpstart so successful. This was a very teachable moment for me and I’m glad that I experienced this mini-wake-up call in the classroom.

~Duaa AbdelHameid

Corps member

Team Kindness

Stick to the Plan: A Reflection on Classroom Management

Three year olds are kind of like frantic little lawyers. By this, I don’t mean that they cross examine witnesses or write contracts (though maybe one day!), but rather that they exhibit masterful persuasion. Working with Jumpstart, you definitely notice they have clear preferences with how they want to spend their time. This, of course, isn’t a bad thing. They are free spirits, taking in stimuli and forming new and exciting opinions about the world that build their understanding. They are getting excited about interacting with corps members and with playing with their peers, which is a huge part of what we at Jumpstart are trying to do. We want the kids to enjoy learning and embrace the skills we stress so that they may take that passion with them as they continue through to future successes.

However, it’s important not to let the children become the boss. Jumpstart has very specific session plans, with specific activities and Center time options that all connect to the domains and skills that we as corps members are trying to establish in the classroom. At times, the children are going to push to do something that is not part of the Jumpstart session plan. Corps members may feel tempted to give in to their desires, but it’s important to remember something very important: You are the boss. We are teachers in the classroom; We have authority that, if used correctly, can open up a very productive and fun environment for the children we work with. The key is to stick to the plan.

Many times, simply adjusting how you do session will make this difference and keep everyone on track. Kids are always thinking about different things, and they will constantly try to distract you into doing other things or into reading them the same book they’ve read a thousand times before. They like the comfort that their favorite activities bring them or that a familiar book can supply. But one really important lesson is teaching the kids that the more books you read, the more you try new activities and look at the way words are formed and sound, the more you understand and enjoy. Pacing is an important aspect of Jumpstart to keep in mind to best utilize the potential of the session. If a corps member finishes their book very early each time, it’s important to adjust for next time and perhaps take more time to focus on the details of the book or discuss the illustrations.  Another good strategy is to try to advocate and seem excited about the session yourself.  The children will be enthusiastic if you’re enthusiastic. If we see that there is one child who wants to do an activity not in the session plan or perhaps goes to the same Center each time, try to advocate for some variety. We as a group are committed to these kids’ education, and we are the driving force that keeps them on track with the curriculum. The way we handle our precious time with the kids is of utmost importance, and I know the corps members in my team work hard to make sure we improve session each and every time.

There will certainly be the occasional kid who continues to lawyer his/her way out of doing the session plan. If I’m ever struggling to keep control, I always tell myself the same thing: I am the teacher in the classroom. Another very reassuring thought is that we are loved by these kids. We are Jumpstart Corps Members: That’s really cool! They love it when they see our red shirts walking through that door. They always have to contain their excitement when we are there, and they will think you’re great even if you say no to them sometimes. I look forward to session each week because I know we are making a difference in these kids’ lives and that we are helping to build their futures. In order to accomplish that, it’s important to be confident in yourself, and don’t forget: stick to the plan!

~Shawn Bush

Team Leader

Team Learning 2

The Difference Three Pillows Can Make

Although technically as Jumpstart Corps members, we are supposed to be teaching the kids, there were many moments when the kids actually taught us. One of those moments happened during the first few weeks of session. I walked into Sunshine Early Learning Center as usual, pulled out my book, and walked into the classroom. My three partner children ran up to me and greeted me and we headed back to our usual reading spot. After going over the name cards, we jumped right into reading Oonga Boonga. This was the second implementation of Oonga Boonga and it was no surprise that the kids got bored very quickly knowing that they have already read this book. I was able to reign in their concentration through asking them questions and asking their opinions on certain parts of the book but regardless of my efforts, they found it very hard to sit still and concentrate. Up until that point, I always had my kids sit “criss-cross applesauce” on designated spots during reading because I thought that would help implement the Jumpstart idea of repetition and familiarity. Little did I know that it is very hard to get three and four year olds to sit still in specific spots without getting restless and unfocused. I was getting very frustrated at the fact that their attention was on where they were sitting rather than on the storybook. Feeling defeated because I couldn’t win their attention, I put the book down for a second and tried to give them a second to wiggle out their restlessness. That was when one of my kids looked up at me and said “Can we just sit on the pillows?”

He was referring to the different colored pillows that were always sitting next to our reading spot. That was when I realized that maybe sitting criss-cross applesauce in the same spot for name cards AND reading was probably as uncomfortable for them as it was for me. No one likes to sit still for that long especially not four year olds. So I grabbed the pillows and gave everyone a different colored pillow to sit on for reading time. When I picked up the book again, I was shocked at the difference that these pillows made. The kids seemed comfortable and were extremely engaged and focused. They were answering all of my questions and we had a blast getting through the rest of the book. That comment from my kid made me realize that reading time didn’t necessarily have to be so serious and boring but was designed to be fun and relaxed and the pillows’ effect on my kids focus was proof of that. I learned from my kid that although Jumpstart has very rigid lesson plans that it wants Corps Members to follow, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the lesson plans can’t be fun and relaxed as well. Ever since my kid asked me that question, I’ve had them sit on the pillows and it’s worked out well every time. With me, I’ve always thought about what it is that I can teach to the kids, never about what it is that the kids can teach me and as evidenced by my second Oonga Boonga session, our kids have a lot to teach us. 

Duaa AbdelHameid

Corps member

Team Kindness 

All About Kindness: A Core Value Post

            I’ve always been in love with children, their beaming smiles and excitement about all the little things us older people miss out on. I jumped at the chance to join Jumpstart after reading about it in a school announcement. Education and children, two things that have become a large part of my life in the past few years.
            My favorite experiences about Jumpstart have been bonding with my teammates, who I think are the most entertaining people especially at 8:30 in the morning when my brain has not switched to On yet, and the partner children we work with every Tuesday and Friday. When I joined Jumpstart, I didn’t know anybody and was a little nervous about how the group chemistry would go. Turns out it is just the right mixture! I love my team and I love talking about the funny things we encounter during session, the jokes, the mishaps, and the darnest things the kids say. We are Team Kindness and I think this is suiting. To others, the jokes might not be funny or make sense, but to us it’s the littlest look that can set off laughter. Everyone is always there to help if we’re having trouble understanding how to read the core storybook, or if our center at Center Time is being overrun with small children. I know I can depend on my team.
            The kids! How boring session would be without them. One of the most memorable times for me would be this past week when two of our Corps Team Members were missing, but not because my team members were gone, but because of the sides of their kids I got to see when they weren’t there. As I have come to learn, out partner children have become very attached to us in the short time we’ve been there. Proof being that I was out sick one day and my teammate told me that one of my partner children refused to listen to her read the story because I wasn’t there! It definitely brought a smile to my face. Well, this past session the partner children for my two teammates were divided among the rest of us, and I could tell they definitely were not as interested in me as they were in where their team member had gone that day. Usually I feel like the kids like to follow their team members to whichever center because they want to spend more time with them. So, this week when the kids had to choose a center based on what actually interested them, I got to interact more with some kids I don’t see as often. The reason this was so memorable was because I could definitely tell out of the two children in my center, one was much smaller and possibly younger than the next. The smaller child barely speaks and when he does, he must be the cutest and quietest mouse I’ve ever seen. I just wanted to mention this one moment that also brings me back to kindness, my team name. The older child knew that his friend was younger and more timid, and he took the time to help him with the toys he was playing with, reach things too high for him, and to say “please” and “thank you”, and “yes I want to play with you”. The reason this was the most memorable for me is because I realized that kindness does not come with experience and learning what is right and wrong and what people should do, but rather with emotions and that even at such a young age, these preschool children know kindness.

Jessica Wu
Corps Member
Team Kindness

A Memorable Moment

  The most memorable moment I have had working as a Jumpstart Corps member occur red during one of my sessions. When we began the session, I had one child who seemed to have trouble focusing on the story I was reading to them. I tried to get her attention by using her name and asking questions to her specifically, it seemed to have little effect and I was also didn’t want to ignore the other children I was with. Though it was frustrating, I eventually began reading it much more enthusiastically and became more animate, such as making more sounds from the book, asking the child more questions, or giving emotion to the dialogue within the story. I noticed that my child soon began paying much closer attention to me and began asking me more questions and giving me answers when I asked them what they thought about certain passage or picture. I was surprised at how much progress I had made by the end of the book, when my child began excitedly telling me what her favorite part of the book was.

After reading, we began Circle time when I was able to help most of my kids sing along to the songs while also clapping and copying the motions we made. During this particular Center Time, I was part of the “Let’s find Out About It” group where we were helping the children to make paper fans. One of the girls was having difficulty with the activity and in frustration she threw her paper away and told me that she didn’t want to do the activity anymore. I encouraged her that it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed and helped her build the paper fan step by step. Eventually she was able to make one herself and was overjoyed when I asked her to fan me with it. As small as it was, helping this child to learn how to get over her frustration and to see how happy it made her filled me with a sense of accomplishment. This little activity provided for her a very positive experience, and also gave me my first glimpse of a change I had made in the classroom.

When the activity was over, I went over to my respective station, Reading, and sat down with a couple of children to read several story books to them. Surprisingly, none of the children gave me a hard time and they all seemed to enjoy the stories very much. When we gathered at the end for Sharing and Goodbye, I remember hearing my team leader ask one of the kids who I had read to if he would like to sit next to her. He said no, and said he wanted to sit next to me, which surprised me in a very good way, knowing that I had made an impression on the child (also allowed me to shoot my team leader a smug look). When we were saying our goodbyes and leaving, the girl who I had helped to make the paper plane walked over to me and hugged me while saying “Thank you Mr. Bryan!”.

To this day, that session remains one the most memorable due to all changes I saw making in the class through the children.

~Bryan Park
Corps member
Team Connection        

We're Only Human

My first day of Jumpstart session at Sunshine was a pretty memorable one. I spent the night before prepping my book, packing my writing center supplies, and getting psyched about the next morning. And the next morning, I woke up around 10:30 am with maybe 7 or 8 missed phone calls from my teammates. I slept through my first day, and not only was it disappointing, but it was humiliating. I didn’t feel like I let down the kids, though. I felt like I let down my teammates, who are more than capable enough to work around my mistakes and still give our kids a meaningful session.

Like everyone in Jumpstart, I signed on because I was excited to spend time with cute little kids. And I got what I wanted, the most adorable little kids I’ve ever seen who hug me and listen to what I have to say and make my 9:30 am the farthest thing from miserable. What I wasn’t expecting was an opportunity to share this experience with my peers, my teammates. The Jumpstart team is a really special experience I think, and my team (like many others I’m sure) has had a few unexpected opportunities to figure out ways to adapt with inconveniences.

I had never heard of any of the people on my team before we got assigned to each other, and of course there was no way of knowing how compatible we would be. And maybe we’re not always perfectly in-tune, but we all have the same goal going into the classroom: to make the Jumpstart experience the best we can for our kids. We help each other, and we all bring different strengths to the experience, and we each know that we aren’t ever alone in Jumpstart. Having the opportunity to collaborate and to hear everyone’s different perspectives makes each of us better at what we’re doing.

So when I slept through that first day of Jumpstart, my team survived and made it back in one piece to forgive me (at least I think they did). Since then we’ve had other challenges, and we’re still kicking. Hopefully my terrible sleeping habits in some way set the foundation for continued resilience and flexibility. After all, we’re only human, and these kids aren’t going to remember our individual mistakes, they’re going to remember our red Jumpstart shirts.

~Kathryn Gillon

Corps member

Team Learning 2

Witness to Change

“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” sang Ms. D’s and Ms A’s class

This was Jumsptart’s first week working in the classroom.  As Team Joy tried its hardest to engage the students in “If you’re happy and you know it” and “Ten Little Fingers” among other songs and rhymes.
I was having a particularly difficult time engaging one of the children in my group.  She was very shy and didn’t seem very interested in any of the activities.  But throughout the time Jumpstart was there, after much encouragement and coaxing from my teammates and I, she began to open up, smiling and talking to the corps members and even other children.  This was a rewarding experience.
    
Working with Jumpstart so far has been an extremely rewarding job.  I am to witness change being made in my own community, and know that I am part of that change.

I must admit that it is sometimes a struggle juggling Jumpstart and school, along with other activities, but knowing that my job makes a difference, especially in education, overpowers the cons.  By working with Jumpstart I have begun to see the struggle for a good education in America.  There are so many factors that play into a child’s development including community, stable family and environment, and good teachers.  All of these factors do not always remain constant in children’s lives, but by helping them get a good education, I have gained hope that these children, will be prepared for school and the social world.  This will increase their self-esteem and integrity, which will drive them to want to do well; as long as this is reinforced by at least one person in their lives, whether it is a teacher, a parent, a pastor or a friend, I am confident that they will achieve great success and life.
Such skills start in the early ages, when children are learning their numbers and alphabets.  That is why Jumpstart is so important.  

This past Wednesday was my time teaching at Centronia, a bilingual education center for young children.  I helped out with four-year old children, and it was so much fun.  It was interesting to see how different they were from the three-year old preschoolers from Sunshine Learning Center were.  They were more talkative, more involved and very smart.  This said I’m looking forward to seeing our preschoolers learn and develop as they grow into the same talkative, involved, smart children I have the most faith they will.  Another thing I liked about Centronia was that I was able to speak in English and Spanish with the Children and the Teachers, this helped me with my Spanish and helped the children better understand what they were told.  My favorite part was snack time when we had my favorite, arroz con leche, and enjoyed talking and doing activities with the children.  

I know that my Jumpstart team and I will continue to have difficulties in and outside of the classroom; however we are always rewarded for our work when we are greeted with hugs, or a child learns to recognize his or her name, or when we just have an all-over good session that day.  That is the truly the best part of this job.

-Casia Thompson

Corps member

Team Joy 1

I am thankful for...

With the upcoming holiday season coming up and Thanksgiving right around the corner, I am starting to put together my annual “I am thankful for…” list. My family has a tradition to share our lists after our huge turkey meal while sipping hot cups of pumpkin tea. So far on my list I have family, friends, Carly (my roommate), Mariam (my honorary roommate), Urban Decay’s Naked Pallet, Mac Cosmetics, Essie nail polish, Zayn Malik, my iPhone, my mac book, Forever 21, Amazon.com, and choosing American University. As a college freshman from New York City, the transition from the big apple to Washington D.C. was….a unique one at the least. The first week of college was all fun and mingling but now the college pressure is slowly sinking in. American University was the best decision I made to date and the decision to join Jumpstart at American University is an essential part of that.

After I heard about the Jumpstart program, joining was a no brainer. I wanted to become a part of it. Although I am an international relations major, there is an inner teacher in me. I have been tutoring all my life and been employed at numerous learning centers. Jumpstart was fresh and unique. Jumpstart bridges the gap between early childhood education and elementary school and I have never heard of a program like that.  I am a first generation Bengali-American and was an ESL (English as a second language) student all up until the second grade. I was lucky; I had a supportive and encouraging group of people who made sure I overcame the language barrier. Not all children have that. I want to make a difference in a child’s education just as how numerous people have in mine.

My first day in the classroom at Sunshine Early Learning Center was a learning experience for not only me but also everyone in my Jumpstart team. We left the classroom fully mesmerized by all the children and their loving faces and gestures.  I think I can speak for everyone in my team when I say that we all left feeling motivated, eager to come back.

The children at Sunshine are all very bright, but as normal, not all children are on the same level. I work with children who know all their alphabets and others who are just beginning to learn. The best feeling is when you see that enlightened look on a four years old face when they can easily pinpoint all the letters in their name after struggling for a few tries.

My journey with Jumpstart is still a relatively new one. I have much to learn and much to give. Team Joy 1 leaves each and every session knowing not only did we teach our kids something new but they have also taught us something new.

~Nabila Khatun
Corps member
Team Joy 1

Excitement and Intimidation

The first words that came to my mind when coming across the world of Jumpstart were exciting and intimidating. Actually setting foot in a classroom and academically interacting with the children was an interesting thought; I really had no idea what to expect. Observation was a fun time. My team, Determination, got to play with the kids and see how they interact with each other and with the teachers.  It wasn’t a super serious setting and the kids were just as excited as we were. After some observation, we got to go outside with them and play on the playground. Even though it’s only a small jungle gym with a single slide, the kids had so much to do. It was interesting to see what they could come up with. Most of these things included finding new way to go down the slide. Unfortunately a lot of those ways were not the safest and they had to be monitored. I have to say that Blaire makes a pretty hilarious slide monitor. After the days of observation were over, it was time to begin planning out our first session. This is kind of where the nerves started to kick in. I had already gotten familiar with the kids and grown to like them but instructing them felt like a whole different realm. The way the teacher conducts the class isn’t all that different from what we do in Jumpstart so the children already seemed used to how things flowed.  On the first day of session, I have to say that reading to them was by far the most frustrating. I only had two students and one of them but one of them was being so resistant that he would say no to anything I said, even if it wasn’t a question. He kept handing me other books that he wanted me to read but I told him that we had to continue with Ooonga Boonga. I know it’s not the most exciting book but c’mon man, let’s just try and focus for 10 minutes. The other student was doing fine and being involved in the reading but she soon lost interest when the boy was acting up. I don’t exactly blame her since I was trying to keep the boy focused more than I was reading the book. That experience alone made me have so much more respect for the teachers since they have greater control over an entire classroom than I did with just two students. The rest of session went fairly well and I look forward for the future sessions to come.

~Vincent Guerrero
Corps member
Team Determination

We Learn as Much From Children That They Learn From Us

As Jumpstart, a team of corps members go into the classroom twice a week for two hours. These times with the children are meant to be beneficial for everyone, the corps members learn from the children and the children learn from the corps members. Each corps member gets a group of children for the year to work with and read to, and I have already seen my children improve.

On the second or third Jumpstart session, during Welcome time, where we practice recognizing letters in the children’s names, the two children in my group were starting to recognize that they had the same letter in each of their names. That was a huge step forward. Also the children had different ways of recognizing the letters, reading an lowercase a with a lowercase o. They would know similar letters and confuse them.

These children have taught me about their family, how they have baby siblings, how much they cry, what it is like to go to school, what they like to do, what they want to do, and why some things are important to them while others are not. This is all relative to their experiences. They have taught me about themselves and how excited they are for Jumpstart and willing to be our friends and listen and learn from us.

Being in Jumpstart means a ton to me. Knowing that you will have made a difference on a child’s life is no small thing. That kind of effect on someone’s life is something that all children need. They need to be loved, adored, and taken care of. There is no way around it. But life gets hard, money runs short, and sometimes that does not always happen. I recognize this. To be the extra helping hand in a child’s education or life is why I am a Jumpstart Corps Member.

~Mahali Schenkelberg 

Corps member

Team Joy 1

Making the Connection: Life Changing Children

When I began at Jumpstart I was excited, but mostly to just be around children. I missed my babysitting job and wanted to spend time making a difference in children’s lives. However, upon beginning Jumpstart, I started to see a whole new world that I had never expected. I loved being in the classroom and seeing my team start to make a difference and learn about these kids and how smart they are. I started to see what it would mean to be part of the change in education.

As soon as this happened I started to think about how my major would fit in with education and then it all changed. Jumpstart has slowly started to change my idea of what I want to do in life. I have always wanted to change something in the world and I think what needs help is our education system. We need an education system that all children can access and one that all children can succeed the same in. After watching “Wait for Superman” I realized that this is not true for all children. With the lottery system, children do not all have the same chances in life and that is something that they are owed. The government needs to be able to accommodate all of these children and No Child Left Behind is not the answer. I believe that the answer is changing tenure. No teacher should be harder or easier to fire. If they are doing a job well then they have earned the right to stay. If they are not, they deserve to leave with no recommendations from the school.

Though there are people that are trying to change these ways I think that it all starts in the schools. That is the beauty of Jumpstart; we have a chance to get these kids excited about learning. Seeing a child start leaping at the chance to spell their name for you and write it. You see the children get excited about the smallest things, they are curious about everything and all they want is to learn. When children change the course of your life and what you want to pursue, it is a powerful thing. Thanks to Jumpstart I feel as though I have a new thing to fight for in life. Children need to be fought for, they cannot fight for themselves, and we are the answer. We can make the connection. 

Reka Keller

Team Leader

Team Connection 

Getting Started

Jumpstart has been such an interesting experience for me so far. I knew what I was signing up for, but the feeling of actually being in the classroom is something that cant be taught in the training events or posted under the job description. I was very nervous to begin Jumpstart session, as I have never worked with lower socio-economic students before., or been involved in any sort of education program in D.C. Prepping for our first session was definitely nerve-wracking. Even though I knew exactly how session was supposed to run, actually experiencing and implementing one for the first time would be difficult no matter what. 

This Tuesday in Jumpstart my team implemented session for the first time. Although it was slightly chaotic and overwhelming running through it the first time, it was a pretty successful day. What was the most overwhelming for me was reading time. We read the story, Oonga Boonga to our group of students for the first time. I was really excited to be with my students that I would have for the entire year, but was a little disappointed when they wanted to run around and not pay attention to the book. When I asked them, “are you ready to read this story with me?” and two of them replied with, “no”, I was a little taken aback. I did my best to run through reading like I had been practicing, but my students trying to run off and join other groups was more distracting than I had accounted for. I was frustrated because I was so ready and eager to start teaching these students. 

This Friday in session I was so shocked to see how much they actually remembered. My students were retelling the story to me and remembered the characters. The best part was although they had forgotten some of the vocabulary words since last session I retaught them during this reading time and by the end of the story they could retell them to me and were defining them properly. Similarly, when I was asking one of my students to tell me the name of each letter I was pointing to, although she got a lot of them right she missed a couple. I helped explain to her what the letter was and what it looked like, and when we did it again she named all the letters correctly. It made me feel really happy that she was focused with me and that I could teach her something. 

Also this week my center was art- mixing red and blue paint to make purple. It made me so excited to see how the students were thrilled with mixing the colors and watching it turn into purple. They kept on saying things like, “red and blue makes purple” or “purple comes from mixing red and blue”. I’m so happy that what I helped them with taught them something and that they were so energetic and excited to learn. I didn’t think I would start seeing successes in Jumpstart so early. I’m really encouraged and motivated after seeing what kind of impression my work and the work of my team leaves on these students and how were impacting their education.

~Christina Koch

Corps member

Team Joy 2