Sometimes the Silly Things are the Most Important

“Miss Megan, you have dirt on your eyes.” This was not the reaction I expected when I decided, for the first time in a few weeks, to wear makeup to session. Kids sure do tell it like it is, no sugar coated flattery there. I took a moment to explain to my Jumpstart buddy that I was wearing makeup, not dirt. He looked up at me a bit bewildered for a couple seconds and responded something along the lines of “oh…well that’s weird.”  Harsh. I’ll admit, at first I was a bit taken aback, after all it took some time to put that makeup on, but then I couldn’t help but smile. After a quick chuckle I jumped back into reading Gilberto and the Wind, but was left with a lingering thought, Jumpstart finally clicked for me.

            I don’t quite know why it was this moment that realization came to me, but suddenly it seemed as if every question I asked, my Jumpstart friends could answer with ease. They no longer rolled around on the carpet during Welcome, but rather sounded the letters in their names like they were getting paid to do it. Maybe it was how when Circle Time rolled around, my two partner children asked for my book and handed it to my Team Leader for me then each grabbed one of my hands and happily made their way to the circle, asking me to sit next to them, rather than me corralling them like I’ve had to in the past. Though I’m not sure what exactly clicked in our routine, I’m certainly glad it did. Since that day at the beginning of the months, my reading and Center Times have gone so much smoother.

            In the back of my mind, I’ve always had the notion that I was somehow helping out, but for the first time I could truly see that the hours of material prep, rush hour Metro trips, and persistence were paying off.  I’d be hard pressed to say that I’ve felt more elated to accomplish something. I know that by the time my Jumpstart friends are my age, they will most likely have no recollection of me other than a tomato-red shirted blur, but I can easily say that for the rest of my life I will remember these children, what they learned, and in turn, taught me.

~Megan O'toole
Corps member
Team Learning 1

It’s the Little Things that Matter Most

I went to high school in Vermont, where winters are cold, snowy, and icy.  School delays and snow days are common for February, and I always know when my hometown is having bad weather because I will see hundreds of “Snow day tomorrow!??!” posts on Facebook.  But just yesterday I saw some posts that were really quite disturbing to me. Students at my old high school were ranting about school still being in session. They were publicly posting things such as “Our superintendent is so stupid for making us come to school” and “I don’t care, I’m having my own snow day.”  These posts were coming from students at one of the better, more reputable, high schools in my state! I was so shocked to see that these students, many of whom are seniors and will be going to excellent colleges next year, have become so disillusioned by the public school system and are so unappreciative of the quality education they are privileged to receive.

And this problem is appearing in increasingly younger age groups, especially within the realm of public schools.  Many students are uninspired by the ways of the system and are uninterested in learning.  And what scares me is that I have already seen signs of this jadedness in my Jumpstart preschool classroom.  Yes, there are some, but not many, children in my classroom who will sit in Circle Time and pretend that nothing is happening or will walk away from their Corps Member during Reading and not even the teacher can make them sit through the book.  These children aren’t interested, or they would rather explore and learn things on their own.  And for these children, I get excited about even the smallest signs of interest and improvement.  During session last week one of these infamous children got so overwhelmingly excited to see their name written on their name card.  Hearing this boy exclaim, “B! That’s for me! And B is for Batman!” was so rewarding to me. In fact, it reassured me that Jumpstart is making a difference in the lives of our preschool children, and I can only hope that their interest in learning will continue to thrive throughout their schooling careers.

~Maia Plesant

Team Leader

Team Joy 1

Gilberto and the Wind

Monday morning, 8:30 am, team determination congregated in Nebraska parking lot ready to go. This session was the first implementation of Gilberto and the Wind, and I was pretty excited to get do the science center during center time. We all piled into the van, making sure not to spill our ever so valuable coffee, and headed down to Sunshine Early Learning Center in SE.  After successful reading and circle time, I headed to my center, eager to begin the science center. This center was focused on the wind, and what objects the wind is able to move. In order to create this wind, we had a hair dryer, ready for action. A few students lingered over to my table, and honestly were a bit confused as to why there was no paint in the art center. After explaining what awesome activities we were going to do, a grin grew on the students’ faces, and we began our activity. There were four objects in our experiment; a feather, cork, clothespin and balloon. Each student was able to hold the object and guess if the wind would move it across the table. Key vocabulary such as heavy, light, and dense were added to the conversation, as students created a hypothesis. The first object, a bright red feather, sat still on the table before I started the wind. The moments before I turned the hairdryer to ‘low’ were almost in slow motion, full of excitement and tension. When I finally pushed the switch, the feather went flying, as each student screamed with excitement. Each and every other student and Jumpstart corps member turned towards science, curious and envious of our experiment. This continued for the rest of center time, with students eager to explore the effects of wind to regular household objects. Although I was curious how this center  was going to work, I was extremely pleased with how it turned out. The excitement from this center was contagious in the rest of session. Even though science is not a regular center, I hope it will come up in later sessions!

~Blaire Cohen
Corps member
Team Determination

So much more than dramatic play

A few weeks ago in Jumpstart we hosted a party at the dramatic play center (ain’t no party like a Jumpstart party, right?), and I was lucky enough to get to play with the kids that day. I really like dramatic play because, even though we have a theme to work with, what happens there is really driven by the children. Rather than being totally in control, I become a guest in their little kitchen area and I get the opportunity to see the way the kids interact with each other and with the environment around them. The types of foods they pretend to cook and the way they talk to their toy dog gives me some idea of the lives they live outside of the classroom. And best of all, that this is part of the Jumpstart curriculum is so telling of the little ways we can learn just from living. The kids are always adorable, but the day we had the party they was especially charming. Because of the excitement surrounding the party theme, dramatic play got a little hectic at times, and the party hats I made got stepped on and ripped and at one point a little boy took his arm and just swept all the plastic party snacks and empty cups filled with invisible Sprite right off the table and all over the floor. Throughout the chaos, though, I kept seeing little things, like one girl helping put a hat on a girl who had just come over, or the little boy who got the toy mop and cleaned up the floor. They took turns having it be their birthday or their friend’s birthday or their baby doll’s birthday. They shared imaginary cake and pizza with each other. And when it came time to clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere actually cleaned up. And as they put all those empty boxes of cake mix and torn up napkins away in their little pretend kitchen, I was reminded of something my mother used to say to me after my baby sister was born (my baby sister is now on the verge of entering middle school, and the worst part is she’s only going to keep getting older). “Be careful with her, she’s a little person.” That was hard to imagine when it was just a chubby creature who couldn’t talk, but over the years I’ve had the privilege into seeing her turn into a beautiful  not-as-little person. My fellow party-goers weren’t just kids, weren’t just 3- and 4-year-olds—they were little people. I feel so old saying this, but they’re going to grow up so fast and in no time at all they’ll be throwing parties and going grocery shopping and doing the dishes and hopefully not toppling over tables full of food. I don’t know how much preparation I was able to give them during center time as far as party etiquette goes, and I’m not even sure if I was able to drill enough vocab into the conversation to suit an ideal lesson plan. But I do appreciate the fact that they let me glimpse the way they see life through dramatic play, and I’m so honored that I get to be even a small part of these precious little people’s very real and very promising lives.

~Kathryn Gillon
Corps member
Team Learning 2

Reflections on Second Semester

The second semester of Jumpstart is in full swing and something very exciting is beginning to happen; I am beginning to notice how much the children have learned over the course of the semester. We have gotten to know our partner children so well over the course of the semester, and it’s very encouraging to see that all of our hard work is accomplishing something amazing. In my CAT site, I’m beginning to see children who used to scribble aimlessly write their names on their own. In our writing center, children are beginning to write letters and draw people, something that would have been impossible for them to do at the beginning of the year. Children verbal communicate what they did at session during Sharing and Goodbye, much better than they have ever done before, and actually volunteering to do so.

With all that can go wrong at a session, it’s very encouraging to see that all the hard work of the teachers, the Corps Members, and the team leaders are producing real and positive outcomes. It’s easy to overlook the impact that education has on a child because everyone goes through the education system. It shouldn’t be overlooked, however, because the knowledge our partner children gain through Jumpstart and their children can provide them with opportunities in the future. Education is something that we all have benefitted from. The developments in the children that I was recently noticed has shown me that Jumpstart is a meaningful way to give back to the community.

~Christina Mills

Corps member

Team Determination

Learning to love science

As a person who is addicted to and finds great relief in crafting, I was really upset to learn that art was being phased out as a center time activity for the next few weeks. Part of me, probably the science major part, was still really excited to find out that it was being replaced with science. I was thinking the kids would be equally upset as my initial reaction knowing how much they usually enjoy making a soup of all the mixed paint-- If there is one thing I know they have learned is every primary color makes brown, every time. I had no idea how excited they would be for science, but it came as a great relief since I was the one manning the “Wind Machine” that week. In preparing for the center I searched around my room for a good hour just figuring out what would blow easily, with a strong wind, or just not move. I am pretty sure the items I picked were a big hit because I had a huge following of little scientists making hypotheses that usually turned out right. I never could have guessed that a feather and hair dryer would cause so much excitement and naturally every item had to be “blasted at high speed!”  After all the items were properly sorted and all the kids had moved on to dramatic play, I got a chance to reflect.

I felt a great deal of happiness seeing this scientific fervor so universally. I vividly remember in third grade a science experiment about human anatomy where we restricted our opposable thumbs and tried to perform various activities. I really liked the challenge of feeling like most other animal species and kept mine on for most of the day well passed the end of science period. I knew then how fascinating the human body is and how I wanted to work with it my whole life. I feel like science is one of those areas that children at any age are allowed to really explore and challenge what is around them. Now as a public health major, I think one of the biggest problems that health programing faces is getting people to care. This handful of four year olds allowed me to see that anyone can be excited and inspired by science even if it is merely testing if how a Mason jar will move with a wind machine.  The catch is that you have to challenge your audience and get them really involved and interested. Next time I am attempting to teach any age group about the wonders of veggies or the importance of whole grains, I will instantly remember my Jumpstart buddies running around chasing my silk scarf and try to invoke that same level of energy.

~Athena Roesler

Corps member

Team Connection

Understanding my partner children

After the New Year, I was excited to return back to Jumpstart. I enjoy spending time with my partner children as well as my teachers. They are absolutely amazing and I just smile when I think about the opportunity Jumpstart gives me in the classroom. Reading time is my favorite activity during session because I really get to see my children grow. Every time they notice a new book they ask questions right away. I love it when they get so optimistic about a new character. Hearing them relate the story back to their personal lives makes me understand them more and more each day. Although reading can be engaging and fun it’s also challenging. On some days my partner children might not be having a good day and it can affect the dynamics of reading time. One day during reading, one of my partner children was just not having a good day and she kept taking it out on everyone in the group. Whenever one of the other students would speak she would yell at them and tell them be quiet. It was frustrating and very challenging to try and get her to forget about whatever was bothering her in her personal life in focus her attention on the book. Finally I started asking her a lot of questions in regards to the book and she actually became more engaged. I realized that many of the children love attention. She told the group during reading that her parents pay more attention to her little brother and it made me understand her emotions a lot better. I love my partner children and I want them to feel open around me and be able to express how they feel to me. I am excited to see what the rest of my term with Jumpstart will bring me this year.

~Amina Muse
Corps member
Team Kindness

Thankful

Jumpstart has taught me many things. From being dedicated to the children to building up your patience with the children. Now at this point in the school year with the children, it has become easier, and I have become more connected with the children that I teach. If I did not have had the chance, and developed the skills to do this, I would have missed out on many incredible experiences.

There was one experience while I was doing CAT that I was getting extremely frustrated with myself and with the children for not paying attention to me while I was talking. But with my skills developed through Jumpstart, I took a second to myself and breathed, and then I clapped my hands and said, “Let’s build a zoo.” The children had been playing with a range of animals and building blocks for a while now so trying to connect it back to Jumpstart and get everyone to play together was a difficulty. Hence I suggested the zoo idea. When I suggested this, I saw an immediate change in the children. All of them wanted to do this now, so they were working together and still playing with what they wanted to be playing with. From there it was easy sailing. And since there were a lot of kids with me, it was a good way to get everybody playing on the same thing so I could give them equal attention.

I want to credit Jumpstart for teaching me how to keep my calm and patience so that I can focus on the problem and try and fix it. And even when some kids stopped playing with the other stuff, such as the cars and trucks, they completely enjoyed it. By the end we were are mooing and oinking to our hearts content.

~Mahali Schenkelberg

Corps member

Team Determination

I actually taught her that word

Although my group of children for Reading has changed numerous times, one girl has been a constant in my group. This little girl is very quick and loves to answer all of my questions. Even one of the observers that was in the classroom one day noticed how advanced she is.  One of my favorite moments in Jumpstart involves this little girl. I think it is phenomenal that we get to teach these children vocabulary. Like they did not even know this word existed until we told them what it was and what it meant. When we read “A Letter to Amy”, the parrot played a persistent role in the story. It was on every page with Amy and it was colorful. All of the children called it a bird at first. Then, I told them that it was a parrot, “a tropical bird with bright feathers.” The children did not know what a parrot was. They continued to call it a bird and I constantly kept on reiterating the word “parrot.” I thought I had failed on my part and could not get deliver the vocabulary word. When we moved on to the next core storybook, “Hooray a Piñata!” there was a parrot on one of the pages. It was not part of the story and I did not say the word even once. As I was reading, the little girl exclaimed, “Look it’s a parrot. It has bright colorful feathers!” She told all of her friends that her favorite parrot was in this story too, just like the story we read last week. I was so surprised. Not only did she remember the word, she was able to make the connection between the storybooks. It felt good to hear her say it out loud. I actually taught her that word.

~Iraj Masud

Corps member

Team Learning 2

Best Week in Jumpstart

I had one of the best weeks in Jumpstart I’ve had so far in session last week. The first semester of Jumpstart took a lot of getting used to and it took me a little while to find my footing in the classroom. Reading was always difficult because my students were always really hyper right after snack time and had a hard time focusing on the story. They wouldn’t listen to me, would run away from me, fight with each other, and seemed to show no interest in the story or learning. It was hard to keep trying because I wasn’t noticing them making any particular advancements or progress during reading time. I had heard a lot about how rewarding Jumpstart would be and how corps members form such close bonds with their partner children who would appreciate and love them. I felt like my partner children had no interest in me or why I was there, and it frustrated me that we could never get through a story peacefully.

Last week we were reading A Letter to Amy in Jumpstart. I don’t know if it was maybe that my students are more familiar with Jumpstart and me or if they just really loved the story, but they both sat there the entire time and didn’t yell at me, or run away, or fight with each other. They were perfectly silent as I read and acted out the whole book, which has never happened before. They were so active and eager to talk about the story after I finished and to retell to me what had just happened and who all the characters were. I was so amazed and proud to see their growth and how far they had come in just a couple of weeks. All of my patience finally seemed so worth it, and they have inspired me to keep trying and made me recognize that I really am making a difference just like I hoped I would.

~Christina Koch

Corps member

Team Joy 2

Overwhelmed

I have to open with a disclaimer - I've never written a blog before. And now that you're prepared, I can begin.

Since sixth grade I've been working around younger kids in some manner: assisting dance or martial art classes, volunteering at camp in my town, even returning to my elementary school to help teachers in their classrooms. Jumpstart is a completely different caliber than what I've done before. When I first started I was amazed by how much was expected of me and my team. Meeting for lesson plans, creating materials, reviewing core storybooks, visiting the library, learning songs and poems, and countless trips to my site manager's office. I admit it - I was pretty overwhelmed.

My first day of CAT probably didn't help. The school I work in primarily teaches the students in Spanish; I know a little but when three-year olds are speaking more fluently than I am, it's difficult. Not to mention the teachers didn't introduce themselves or the students to me. Actually one teacher might think my name is Maria still. . . .At the end of my first day though, I was really getting to know the kids, and a few were upset when I had to leave.

With CAT under my belt, I felt a lot more confident about session the following day. The first time was still pretty intimidating. Things went very smoothly because a majority of my team already knew the schools and students. With less difficulty than I imagined, I managed to get my partner children engage in reading. When I left that day I felt great.

I didn't realize how excited I would be to return. Just walking in the door a few days later, a little girl hugged me. She wasn't even from my class, but she saw the Jumpstart t-shirt. It's been a few weeks since then, and I'm still just as excited going into the classroom, whether it is for session or CAT.
As stressed as I've gotten at some points, Jumpstart really encourages the passion I have for working with children. And that's something I'm grateful to have.

~Amalia Mendoza
Corps member
Team Learning 2

Fun comes in all Languages

This year was my first time partaking in Classroom Assistance Time (CAT) and to be honest, I had not been having the best time at it.  I felt mostly unnecessary, being that I would mostly cut out squares, triangles, and hearts for the duration of my time-slot.  I became complacent with this, always blaming my lack of competency on my inability to fluently speak Spanish.

The school that I serve at is Bilingual, having teachers speak in both Spanish and English during class time.  Most students’ home language is Spanish, so it is trying for them to talk to me.   With this, every Friday at 2:00, I would go into the classroom trying to interact with the students, going mostly ignored.
When I went in last Friday, I expected the same routine, but was happily surprised.  That day, the teachers had the class go to the gym making me very curious.  It should be noted that I grew up in an extremely athletic family, my father being a coach and previously a summer camp owner.  Because of this, knowledge and a liking of gym games has stuck with me from an early age.

We walked into the gym and I was confused to see that this “gym” was a basement half a basketball court with padded walls and a single hoop.  The children were elated upon entry and started running sporadically and playing with a couple dodge balls.  When I saw this, I was confused as to why nothing was organized or planned but then I found that the teachers and students were content in just playing.
At first, I stood on the sidelines with the teachers until I could not any longer.  I walked onto the court and a few students immediately noticed. After inquiring about playing a game they were automatically for it.  Before I could stop to take breath, I was chasing five children in a game of tag.

As we continued to play, the students became increasingly more comfortable with me, and wanted to interact.  I think that in being able to communicate through the athletic activities allowed us to break the language barrier that was found in the scholastic environment.

When we arrived back to the classroom, I was delighted to have children ask me to read book after book to them.  I even read a few books in Spanish and when I had confusion on what the text the students would assist me in English.  This furthered both their comprehension of the story and their understanding of English.

When I left the classroom, the students were intent on knowing when I would be back to read and play with them, and I found myself eager for the next time I would be able to as well.  Without finding our common ground in just having pure fun, I might have continued the semester without having much impact.  Now I am sure that I will have many more exciting and promising experiences my class.

~Daylyn Weppner
Corps member
Team Determination

Happy Anniversary Jumpstart!!

We are having a great time celebrating Jumpstart's 20th Anniversary. We have publicly kicked off our anniversary celebration on January 29th, with a dinner honoring its founders, Aaron Lieberman, CEO, Acelero Learning; Jordan Meranus, CEO and Co-Founder, Ellevation Education; David Carmel, Principal, Carmel Asset Management; and Rebecca Weintraub, Associate Physician, Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital along with the organization’s first donors, Dale Atkins, Author & Psychologist and Rob Rosen, Business Executive; and Pearson and the Pearson Foundation.  Additionally, on January 30th, Jumpstart hosted a Congressional breakfast chaired by US Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D CT-3) and Ed Royce (R CA-39), Jumpstart’s long-time supporters. At this event, American University's own Grant Conway was able to share a few words about this experience with Jumpstart.

We've included the link so you can take a look!  Way to go Grant!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO1gDxosMew

Achy Hands, Tired eyes, and Bursting hearts

I can feel the blisters forming on my thumb, index, and pinky finger as I cut along the penciled outline. With one more swipe of the blades, the paper detaches, and falls to the table below. I set down my trusty pair of scissors and breathe a sigh of relief: my materials prep for the night is over.
I love arts and crafts as much, if not more, than the next guy. However, after cutting out the first dozen or two shapes, it starts to take a toll. From my time as a Jumpstart Corp Member, I have realized that preschool teachers take on more cutting, pasting, drawing, and laminating than educators at any other level.  They work tirelessly to make sure that their kids have activities to complete, resources to improve their learning outside of class, and a classroom decorated with materials that promote a sense of belonging and everyday learning for their children. These teachers, however, provide for their entire class; my materials prep is normally just for my three partner children. I cannot imagine the blisters, ink stains and sticky fingers that normal preschool teachers go through on a daily basis to make enough materials for a dozen or so preschoolers. Looking back, I have so much more appreciation of my kindergarten teacher for all of the little things she did to promote my education. Of course, her work was a thankless task, as is the work of all teachers, but they proceed anyway with achy hands, tired eyes, and hearts bursting with love of serving their kids.

At the end of the day, I have a love-hate relationship with materials prep. I love the break from my college workload of scouring research databases and writing papers and I love to play with paper and crayons as a part of my job. The only hate comes from the physical and mental exhaustion of completing a major project. Even then, I don’t actually hate it—I just like to hate it. Looking at it from a different angle, the exhaustion is just a sign that I did something worthwhile with the time, energy, and hands that I am given.

Audrey Hepburn once quipped: “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” Jumpstart, through materials creation, has helped me to see just that. The greatest benefit of materials prep is not putting my homework aside or making crafts; it is helping my kids to learn and grow just a little bit more. Even if most of my children never use the materials, the multiple hours I spend on a given project will have been all worth it if just one child improves the slightest bit on a single skill. No matter how achy my hands are, how tired my eyes become, my heart will always be bursting with the love of serving my purpose of helping my partner children—and this is what keeps me going.

~Alison Brown
Corps member
Team Joy 2

A Perfect Session

The students in our classroom at Sunshine Early Learning center constantly surprise me. Whether it be recognizing new letters each session or connecting past books to current ones, each  time we leave session, I am eager to share these experiences with my team members in our van ride home. This specific session was full of these surprises, two that particularly stood out in my mind. Today was the second implementation of Lesson Plan 5, A Letter to Amy. Almost instantaneously when I took out the book, one of my partner children, jumped out of her seat to point to the front cover of the book. “There’s the letter to Amy!!!!!” she squealed, overwhelmed with excitement. She always impresses me with her memory of past story lines and details. This continued through out the book, as she recognized Amy’s parrot, Pepe, and told Peter not to be upset, because Amy was going to come to his birthday party. This continued to circle time, when she told me three separate times that she wanted to go to writing so she could write her very own invitation. I am not exactly sure what connected this student to the book so much, but it was incredible to see her increased comprehension and eagerness today.
 
Another one of my partner children is quite the character. Most sessions he sits still during reading for no more than 1 minute at a time, and will not read with the group unless he gets to hold one side of the book. I am constantly redirecting his attention back to the Jumpstart session, and his name tends to be on our teacher’s “list.”  However, when this student has individualized attention, he excels beyond belief.  To my luck, today I was graced with this students individualized presence in my center time activity. The two of us worked on the Alphabet Matching Board, for 15 minutes, and this student could not be more excited every time he found two matching letters. It was a slow struggle for him to articulate the name of the letters at first, but when asked again, he demonstrated his quick understanding.  In addition, when another student came to join us, he proudly told her the directions to the game, and helped her match her first pair of letters! Today was one of those sessions that seems to stand out in my mind. It was perfect that I could write about it here, and share these exciting moments with the Jumpstart world!

~Blaire Cohen

Corps member

Team Determination