Changing Lives

After a long first semester with Jumpstart, I could not wait to get back in the classroom after winter break. The kids in my class almost always brighten my day; whether it is through reading groups, circle time, center time, or sharing and goodbye. Each child has a unique way of making me smile. For example, my center was reading and a child came up to me extremely excited to read a new book. Before we began, he says, “When I’m older I want to be Jumpstart.” The shear eagerness and longing of a little boy to be able to do what I do makes me so excited to come back week after week. The fact that a four year old already has the desire to serve other people is astounding. Of course, he may not know what Jumpstart entails but his excitement to lead songs and wear the red t-shirt is good enough.

            It is always rewarding when our “friends” are enjoying the books or are really engaged in the songs during circle time. When my reading group could not wait to tell stories about the wind I was so happy. They made so many connections to Gilberto and the Wind that I had never seen them make before. During that same session, my team only had one child by sharing and goodbye. We let her choose a song to sing and she was able to lead it on her own. The huge smile that was on her face the entire time made every struggle I have had with her disappear. It was clear in that moment that all she wants is some positive attention and I was so lucky to be able to give it to her.

            Jumpstart has gotten me through a lot of stressful weeks in college. While our main priority is to help the preschoolers get ready for kindergarten, letting loose for two hours twice a week and acting goofy is an amazing way to forget about the struggles of college classes. I absolutely would not be the same person if I had not joined Jumpstart for this academic year. After learning about Jumpstart at Eagle Summit before even starting college, I knew it was the right thing for me to join. I could not wait to apply and start working with the preschoolers. As much as I like to believe I am changing these children’s lives, they are changing mine so much more.

           

~Judith Snyder-Rothman

Corps member

Team Hope

Realities of Jumpstart

My experience with Jumpstart thus far has been amazing. I have always had a connection with young kids, and this program has given me an opportunity to continue this passion in college. I was beyond excited to start participating in this program. The fact that it is affiliated with AmeriCorps was very exciting for me. The session plans were unlike anything I had ever seen with my past experience working with preschool kids. I participated in my high school preschool, and I was excited to be a part of a new school.

Understandably, I was nervous before this program started. I had a good feeling about our group and the work we had done to prepare, but I still did not know what to expect. When we got there, all the smiling faces I saw immediately relieved me. All of the kids screamed, “JUMPSTART!!” Seeing the happiness and joy on their faces was amazing. Reading to the children was very difficult at first because they were so absorbed by how we were. To them, we are jumpstart; people who come in and they get to play with. I don’t know one little kid who doesn’t love to play. Naturally, I was just excited as them to get to play.

I have really enjoyed the groove our group has gotten into. After doing this for a semester, we have learned so much. Classroom management is one of the biggest things. All classes have the troublesome kids, and it takes a certain type of person to be able to deal with this. I believe all my teammates have this skill. They are patient and understanding people. We have all learned a lot from each other and our experiences in the classroom.

There are good moments and there are difficult moments as well. One of the most rewarding experiences I have had throughout my time in this program was during reading. One of my kids, Anna had a breakthrough moment. It was always hard to keep her engaged and focused on the book. I continually directed her back into the reading, but it was beginning to feel useless. However, during Reading For Reconstruction, Anna knew the book like the back of her hand. It was Peter’s Chair, and she knew the characters and the plot better than anyone else in the group. This showed me the significance of actively keeping her engaged in the book. Jumpstart has been an amazing experience, and I look forward to every session!

~Olivia Sheehan
Corps member
Team Hope

Something new

            As I enter my third semester as a Jumpstart corps member, I encounter many familiar things. I’ve already seen all the session plans; read the corps storybooks, and trekked back and forth to our partner school numerous times. Despite all of this familiarity, a session at Jumpstart is never routine.

            This semester, due to scheduling conflicts, I joined a new Jumpstart team. I am adjusting to my new team member, and a classroom full of new children that I have never met before. I haven’t yet learned all the names of all the children in my classroom, but I enjoyed experiencing the new classroom environment as well as reading to a new reading group. My first semester, I had the pleasure of reading to a rambunctious group of talkative 4-year olds. They enjoyed talking about the book and moving all around the room. My new children were equally excited about Jumpstart, but engaged in the book in a different way. They sat quietly and listened; only responding if questions were asked. I wonder if they will come out of their shell more as the semester goes on.

            I’m grateful in the diversity of experiences that Jumpstart has provided me. I’m studying education, and Jumpstart has given me invaluable experience with reading instruction, classroom management, etc. I have been able to travel to schools all over the DC area and have worked with an eclectic group of students. Overall, I think Jumpstart has added something different to my college experience that most people are not as lucky to have. I get to leave school to travel in the nations capital, make a difference in my community, and hang out with some amazing children twice a week. I’m so grateful for this experience, and for happening upon Jumpstart during orientation my freshman year.

~Christina Mills
Corps member
Team Connection

Getting Started (again)

            I was hoping that by the time I wrote this second blog entry, I would have been back doing Jumpstart sessions. I had already planned out how I would write how great it was to be back in the classroom. Unfortunately, due to a snow day and a teacher absence, I will not be back with my scholars until next week. I truly miss implementing Jumpstart sessions with the girls in our class. Our sit manager told us that the girls were anxiously waiting for us to come back, and I believe I am just as anxious. Not having the structure of Jumpstart sessions in my week has upset both the class and myself.

            Over winter break I found myself talking about individual scholars to my family a lot. I would talk about their successes, their misses, their good behaviors, and their bad behaviors. One scholar will always raise her hand when a question is asked to the class and when called on will think for a moment and then say, “I need help.” It makes me happy that the scholars want to be called on for answers even if they are not sure of it. This shows that we have created a safe learning environment. Another one of my scholars is not the best behaved. She will straightly say, “No,” when asked to do something. But she is always so excited about reading and talking about the pictures in the book.

            Since I could not implement session this week, I spent a lot of time preparing my center for next week. I am in charge of “Books.” This is my favorite center, even though it is less popular. As a child, there was nothing I loved more than reading, especially with my teacher and friends. Even if I only have one girl at my center it makes me happy that in this moment, she chose to read over any other activity. In other weeks, my team members have picked up books from the library to bring to session. This week, I went myself. I spent a long time picking out half a dozen books. I wanted to make sure each one was challenging, but not frustrating, full of colorful illustrations, and would be interesting to the scholars. I practiced reading each book aloud, even though I may only get to read one or to during session. The Books Center is going to be strong this week!

            I am so excited to get back to all of the great scholars at our partner school. They are so curious, animated, and fun. Doing Jumpstart is one of the best parts of the week, even if the girls do not behave as well as we would like. I know that each time we visit, they learn a little bit more about something they may never have heard of and that makes me extremely proud.

~Lucy Schwimmer
Corps member
Team Courage

Education Advocate

Tomorrow will be the start of my second semester of Jumpstart. It has been honestly one of the most personally challenging but most rewarding jobs I have ever had. The kids are just the most amazing little people I have ever meet, seeing them succeed makes the whole job just feel like part of my life instead of work. Now it isn’t always great but most of the time it is. There was this one-day that the kids were just crazy and running free and wild like animals. Nothing could keep them still until I had them act out the characters in the book, I think it was Noisy Nora and a kid just screamed out “Nora” every time I said Nora while reading, although it was distracting to me I knew he was listening and engaged. The children love to “Play” which we encourage as we work alongside them in low ratios but throughout playing we make the experience educational. My favorite is dramatic play. Currently as my team had to restart with new kids we are still learning bout families, the kids get to share there stories through playing and also get to create their own families with the baby dolls. Little victories make the time in jumpstart go by fast. Every time a child recognizes a new letter or can spell their name using the techniques given to them on how to write their letters to connecting the story to the centers and circle time after, I just uncontrollably smile. These kids may not all come from the background I did, just a normal background not living below the poverty line but you would never know, these kids are just like every other child I have worked with, they smile, laugh and learn the same exact way. I know that as my time closes in the Jumpstart program I will never forget the people I have worked with including my fellow team members, the program partner staff, the parents, the Jumpstart site supervisors, and especially the children. I have seen myself now becoming the “Education Advocate” that Stacia, my site manager, told us we were all becoming through this program. I now see what I want to do for the children in America and for my future. I see myself as advocate for children and education and also following my path in communications. I thank Jumpstart for helping me find my place within working to benefit this world.

~Alexandra Fraioli
Corps member
Team Learning

Play and explore

Children play and explore. That is how they learn. This is one of the concepts I wish I could have grasped from the beginning. It’s a difficult one because most of us are focused on the teaching aspect of it and don’t want to give up control. But really, the children should be in control when they are learning and explore what works for them. For example, my first center when I started Jumpstart was Art. This center involved paper, paintbrushes, and paint. I was too focused on the children not making a mess in the classroom. This meant restricting them in many ways in order to maintain a clean table and hands. “Don’t use your hands, use the paintbrush instead” was one of the instructions I kept on repeating. I thought I was helping them, but I really wasn’t. I should have let them use their hands if they really wanted to, let them feel the texture of the paint in between their fingers. I should have let them glide their fingers covered in paint across the paper and explore the colors in their own way. Therefore I was not prepared on my part. What I really needed was extra newspaper for the tables and smocks for the children to wear over their clothes. The mess was not the focus. The goal was for the children to explore primary and secondary colors. It did not matter how they got there. At the end of the day, it did not make a difference if they used paintbrushes or their fingers to make new colors. By not letting them use their fingers, I was prohibiting them from discovering what they were able to do with paint. Instead of worrying about the potential mess, I should have let them learn in the way they needed to. With children, nothing is set in stone. They are learning so many things in different ways and everything is flexible. Every child is different and has his or her own learning process. As Corps Members, we need to give up control in situations like these so children feel like they have the ability to be creative. One child might really like using the paintbrush but another child might prefer using his or her hands. There should be a balance of instruction and exploration. Children are best at playing and that’s what we should let them do.

~Iraj Masud
Corps member
Team Learning

Break from Jumpstart

Winter vacation is a time for holidays, family bonding and, most importantly, no school. But with the absence of school there are also no Jumpstart sessions. After spending 6 weeks with a group of student, it felt weird not seeing any of their excited faces for a whole month. Luckily, during the break I was greeted by more familiar smiling faces of my family members. But it didn't mean that I had forgotten the little ones while at home. In my spare time, I was able to break away from the holiday cheer and spent a few hours preparing for the upcoming return to Jumpstart. It seemed as though I had more and better ideas for session this time around. And yes, I did, in fact, have many stares and I was cutting and pasting color pieces of papers together. But if that’s what it takes to ensure our group’s activities are interesting, then you can be sure that I will continue to cut and paste.

I think the toughest part of preparing session materials was not having my group members there to give advice. I didn't have access to very reliable internet and they made communication very limiting. Luckily my phone service was working just fine and I was able to get into contact with my team leader and he was able to give me such great ideas on how to improve my materials. But it still wasn't the same. Fortunately, I was able to use my better judgment. In the end, I was able to improve on the alphabet matching board. They are much more colorful then the previous boards. My idea is that the colors will hopefully help the students to be more engaged. But I guess we shall see.

But since this is the second semester for Jumpstart session for our students, we’re all hoping that sessions will go much smoothly. For the most part, corps members have a better grasp of what is expected of us and the students have become more familiar with Jumpstart. We may still have some kinks to work out, but we will get through it together.

~Ashlee Harvey
Corps member
Team Joy

What’s a Jumpstart Corps Member?

As college students continue to return from a long winter break, Jumpstart Corps members at American University are excited to return to the classroom.

Last semester, I joined Jumpstart D.C. to help underprivileged children learn how to read and write. I can remember walking through the Tavern during Welcome Week, saying to myself, “I’m good with kids… how hard can the job be?” As an incoming freshman, I decided to become involved in an extracurricular to have fun and make new friends. And looking back on a fantastic fall semester, I can truly say I’ve learned a lot while making many new friends… and I’m not talking about fellow college students. I’m talking about my Jumpstart children!

I can’t even begin to describe the reaction my Jumpstart children give when our team walks into the classroom. All smiles. Full of energy. And ready to paint with primary colors. As soon as we begin Circle Time, the kids know, it’s time to get silly, and that’s the reason why I love my job. Because in Jumpstart, there is no wrong. No failure. No disappointment. Just a chance to do better next time. So when I’m dancing to “If You’re Happy and You Know It” or “Head, Shoulders, Knees, AND Toes,” I’m not only making fun of myself, but teaching children to learn by having fun. No error, no mistakes, just Jumpstart.

So when my friends ask me, “What’s a Jumpstarts Corps Member?” I have a couple explanations. In the beginning, my job description was teaching kids to write their names and drilling vocabulary words to pass the time of session. Then, after Thanksgiving break I realized I had a more meaningful purpose. So then, I told my friends, I helped underprivileged kids become more successful during school. And although that is somewhat true… it didn’t really encompass what I do. And it didn’t REALLY hit me until missing Jumpstart over break, when I repeatedly woke up at 7 a.m. thinking about session plan. You see, as much as we train, practice, and motivate ourselves to implement a successful learning environment for our Jumpstart children, I finally recognized the meaning behind my job when coloring with my nephew.

So now, when my friends ask me, “What’s a Jumpstart Corps Member?” I say, “A college students who is lucky enough to color with preschool children two days a week…” Because it’s not about forcing curriculum down their throats, or saying a vocabulary word seven times praying they’ll remember it, it’s about learning by having fun. No error, no mistakes, just Jumpstart!

Bobby McCabe

Corps Member

Team Joy

More than Reading

            Besides helping the children learn the alphabet and teaching them to read, Jumpstart truly makes each child feel important. During training, the corps members learn to call the children by their first name as often as possible because it creates a stronger relationship between the volunteers and students, shows them that we really care about them, and demonstrates that we know who they are out of the other twenty students in the classroom. Splitting into smaller groups to read at the beginning of each session also helps to break down the barrier between teacher and student and provides each student with more personal attention. In their big preschool classes they probably do not always get the attention they may need from the one teacher in the classroom. Therefore, Jumpstart sessions are the time of the week in which they can get the extra help they need to prepare them for kindergarten and the rest of their future. Additionally, the children often tell us about their family and friends which goes to show that they feel comfortable in the environment that Jumpstart creates: an environment for learning, growing, talking, playing, and exploring.

For some children, one on one attention is almost essential for them to have an environment in which they can flourish. Recently I was assigned to work one on one with a student who is easily distracted and rarely participates. It was amazing to see how much better he was able to concentrate when the book was right in front of him and he was the only child I was reading to and talking to. He was much more receptive to my questions and seemed to understand the book much better. Giving him one on one attention also shows him that Jumpstart really does care about him personally and wants him to learn and improve as much as every other child. I am so excited to start this semester of Jumpstart and to continue working one on one with this student because I know he will improve drastically and I am already so proud of him.

I hope that Jumpstart continues to expand to other cities and to grow within the cities it is in because the positive affect it has on the children is so obvious. I knew I loved the organization before I even started volunteering, but seeing the way it impacts the children is truly amazing.

~Sophia Suarez-Friedman

Corps Member

Team Learning

Still Learning

                  Disappointment would always linger after session because my kids never paid attention to the book I was reading or answer any of the questions I had prepared and could not recognize what I was doing wrong. Every time that I pulled out my book they would automatically yell, “No reading! Goodbye JumpStart!” and I would act excited to read and exclaim that this was my favorite book but that did not keep them engaged. It became traumatic and nerve-wrecking during reading time because they would purposely fall out of their chairs and hit their heads against the wall and they did this frequently that I did not know if I should have been concerned or ignored them and keep reading. When I would tell my kids bottoms on chairs please the classroom teachers would yell, “No thank you Sam!” and they would automatically sit on the chairs. It was like magic. I realized that when the other Corps members walked into the room, their children would be super excited and run to them; however, my kids where never excited to see me and then I felt awful because I didn’t want my kids to think of JumpStart as a drag. I thought I was doing everything that I was taught to do, I was always excited to read and I had my book prepared with questions and vocabulary words; I was ready. Then I attended a training session for the coming semester and I realized something depressing, I was boring to those kids! That is why they never wanted to come with me and read, I thought I was being fun and silly but the reality was, I wasn’t pushing my limits and I was not making it enjoyable to my kids.

                  Although I am an introvert I always tried to be active and enthusiastic when it was time for reading but it probably was not enough for my kids because they were never engaged. I never pushed my limits or go as far out of my comfort zone as possible because I did not believe it was necessary but I learned that it would make all the difference. I have to bring my “A” game and go all out when I am reading with my kids and if they get distracted I will give them their name tags or the binder rings so that they have something to play with and pay attention. My grand mistake was believing that I was done with learning in JumpStart but after training I discovered that I was wrong (like always) because you are always learning especially when it comes to children. I want my children to be excited when they see JumpStart and not dread reading because I do not want them to have a negative connotation when they think of reading. In my opinion, reading is extremely important and essential for life and if you had a pleasurable experience as a child then you will always carry that throughout life. I am determined and eager to go back into the classroom and be more excited, be sillier with my kids, and be imaginative when asking questions. Some sessions will most likely be better than others but as long as I incorporate the new strategies that I learned from training I will hopefully be able to make JumpStart more entertaining for my kids.  

~Natalie Giron

Corps member

Team Kindness