The Circle of Life

Over spring break, I met a wonderful woman.  She’s a part time teacher at the preschool I serve in.

I met her while I was racking up some Classroom Assistance Time hours. She was the first to greet me when I entered the classroom, which I found shocking, because normally the little ones get to you first before the teachers do. She welcomed me warmly. With ease I fell in love with her…her kind heart, her sunshine spirit.

While my new Jumpstart friends were curling corn flakes in their fingers and stuffing them in their mouths at varying intervals, I started talking to her. I asked,

“So what is it that you love most about working with children, seeing a you’ve done so for nearly four decades?”

She smiled, and her eyes turned soft, as if she was suddenly taken hostage by the most wonderful dream imaginable. When she returned to me, she said simply, “Spanish.”

“I like to teach the children Spanish. And watch them grow.”

Then she motioned for me to come in closer. She pointed to a child who was modeling a milky mustache with corn flake ornaments hanging off his lip.

“You see this one?” she asked. I nodded slowly.

“I taught his mamá. She was my student too.”

I couldn’t help but beam at her. It isn’t everyday you come across someone who’s taught two generations of kids before. I felt so inspired.

Later that same day, I heard a child singing. It was center time, and he was singing. Not to anyone in particular, just to himself. I tiptoed behind him in hopes of catching some of the words.

“Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba.”

What? What was that?

 I cock my head, utterly confused. Was he just babbling or totally butchering a song.? He chants:

Siyo Nqoba

Ingonyama Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

Siyo Nqoba

Ingonyama Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

I lean in closer and listen longer. Finally, I understand:

“But the sun rolling high.

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round 

It's the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life...”

I smiled. How beautiful. How lovely.

And how unbelievably true.

-Leila Nasser

My First Few Weeks as a Corps Member

February 5, 2015

My First Few Weeks As a Corps Member

I just began working inside the classrooms a few weeks ago, and let me say, the experience has already began to blow me away. I heard about jumpstart through a friend of mine and it sounded like a profound opportunity, and so soon enough, I decided to apply. As I was training over break to begin in the classrooms, I realized just HOW big of a difference this organization is making. The length to which the trainings taught me in itself was huge, and I couldn’t wait to start!

My first day, I was feeling many different emotions. Excited, nervous, and pressure to perform the best I could because I realized the job I was doing and how it truly affects the children. Despite my fears, I was extremely eager to meet everyone. I got to the site, the staff was warm and welcoming and the children were so sweet! Surely, my first day was not absolute perfection, but it was so fun! I figured out what I need to work on and figured out what I’m really good at. I left that day so happy that I did a job a well done and really connected with the class.

My team is always a huge support system! I can always count on them for helpful tips and suggestions, which makes our session truly, a work in progress (not in a bad way, but a positive way). As Corps members and a team, WE can always be improving and I love that about jumpstart. Through what we do to help the children, they are improving and so are we!

I would like to reflect to one specific session just last week. My reading group and I were sitting in the usual spot on the carpet, talking about the cover of the book. It was “read to reconstruct” day, my first ever read to reconstruct day and I was a bit nervous but I had my questions ready and I had prepared myself well. I said to myself “here we go”. Before I could really get a sentence out, the children began pointing out parts of the book they remembered, by looking at the cover. I was not only impressed, but also happy that the book interested them! I asked many of my pre-prepared questions and they did such a wonderful job answering them. In those minutes, I felt like I had done a good job! And most of all, I feel like the children were happy and learning something new through the vocab in the book.

Overall, Jumpstart has ALREADY been a life changer. I now know that I want to somehow work with children in my future and I cant wait to see what the rest of the semester has to offer!

Thanks for reading, Friends!

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

February 2, 2015

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

As my team and I walk back into the classroom after a nice, relaxing Winter Break, we’re surprised to discover that our Jumpstart things, which are usually tucked away into neat little corners of the classroom, are missing from their positions. Though we are frantic at first, we calm, speedily discover where all the missing supplies have been moved, and run through our session plan while preparing the classroom. We manage to finish with a few moments to spare and nestle into our usual spots in the classroom before the first wave our friends come in and Jumpstart begins.

            Our friends have definitely grown since the last time I laid eyes on them. While working with our friends on the letters of their names, I am pleased to discover that they can recognize most of the letters and a few of them understand the difference between uppercase and lowercase. As I led them through Hooray, a Piñata!, the children surprised me with comments and questions about the illustrations in the book that came at such a fast pace that I struggled to finish the book before the call to circle team was made. Of course, the same situation happened before break, but I don’t believe my mind had made the switch from everyday, college life to the magical world of Jumpstart yet.

            Looking back, I realize that that initial shock of having to reset the classroom was a good indicator that I wasn’t fully mentally prepared. Jumpstart is a fast-paced environment that requires spontaneous problem-solving skills. Not everything goes according to plan, and that’s okay, but you need a strategy to overcome minor setbacks in a flash. Because the goal of Jumpstart isn’t that every session flows smoothly, the goal is that, at the end of the day, every friend in that classroom is prepared with the literary skills they need. Learning experiences bumps in the road and so does Jumpstart. You just have to discover how best to overcome these bumps and come out knowing more than you did before.     -Megan Armstrong

The Return

Jacob Jaehne

20 January 2015

The Return

We walked into Cedar Tree Academy today with our materials prepped, our A Letter to Amy books in hand, and a feeling of excitement. Yes, we always do this, but this session was different; today was the first day back after a long winter break. Having seen the children before and knowing how much Jumpstart actually means to them, it was as if we were celebrities.

Walking down the halls with the red t-shirt on made me feel like a football quarterback right before going on the field with his team. With our team, we had some setbacks: some of our Corps members could no longer be with us, leaving Team Curiosity with only four members, and today we were going to be observed by one of our Site Managers. The pressure was on. Despite our low numbers, we did what we came there to do. Session was great, and seeing the children again made all those hours of prep work worth it as they always do. I saw the improvements in most of the kids as we read and did center time, and let me be the first to say: there very little words to describe how I felt to know that my work was meaningful; the one that comes to mind for me is proud.

As far as our numbers are concerned, we are going to have to figure out how best to work with the children, but I am not worried at all. However, I was proud of the work we did today, and one could tell that the children had fun, and in the end it is about them. That feeling I described earlier – that feeling like we were a celebrity – is not in vain; it is in knowing that we are making a difference.

When I Signed Up For Jumpstart

March 5, 2015

When I signed up for Jumpstart, I retrospectively had no idea what I was signing up for. I knew I was going to work with three year-olds in a literacy program, but I didn’t really understand how the program worked. I was worried that I would look stupid or be behind coming into Jumpstart a semester after most people. Yet, while my first few weeks of session were awkward, they were definitely learning experiences.

I can now very proudly name every kid in our class. I understand what people mean when they refer to dramatic play and core storybooks. I better understand what needs to be done in terms of prep work for centers. However, more importantly than this, I have come to understand Jumpstart’s role in the classroom. I see the excitement on the kids’ faces when we walk in the room with our Jumpstart t-shirts on and they start bouncing in their seats screaming “Jumpstart, Jumpstart!” I see the excitement on the teachers’ faces when Jumpstart arrives at the site each time, and I have started to witness firsthand growth and development in the kids’ vocabularies and maturity.

I love to watch the kids become more engaged in the circle time songs, and point out letters in their friends’ names. I love walking into session and having kids recognize you from previous sessions. The one thing I have learned from working with kids is that they are smart and never fail to surprise you with how much they know. And I feel like this opportunity arises so often with Jumpstart. We expect to teach kids about literacy and to expand their vocabularies, but when I look back, they are also teaching me.

The most impactful Jumpstart moment for me was walking into my first session ever, right after Winter Break, and having the teachers around the entrance when we got there cheering because Jumpstart was back. For me, it was awkward, because I had never been there before and did not feel deserving of the excitement they had. But this was when I realized just how important Jumpstart is to the kids and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.     

As I begin to feel more comfortable in session and working with my fellow Corps members and the students, I am becoming more and more sure that I want to pursue a career that allows me to work with students so that they may have the same opportunities that I have been privileged enough to have had in my life. I look forward to finishing the semester strong and continuing to see where Jumpstart can take me.

Snow

January 30, 2015

Usually, the only reason why many students my age get excited about snow is because of the possibility of class being canceled.  Simply put, as we get older, snow gets a lot less exciting. Today, I witnessed how much children’s views differ. During our center time, it began to snow outside and every one of the students had a clear view of it from inside the classroom. As soon as one of the students pointed out that it was snowing, I heard cheers and excitement bubble throughout the entire classroom. As soon as the students realized it was snowing, the entire atmosphere of the classroom immediately filled with joy and delight.

Of course, the students’ reaction to the snow wasn’t some significant event that changed my view on life. But it did allow me to learn how innocent and pure these students are and it made me realize the impact that their teachers, including Jumpstart, had on shaping their lives. Each student has tremendous potential to learn, and they are all thriving to learn more. Despite fooling around during reading and talking during circle time, each of these students are eager to learn and as assistants in the classroom, each Jumpstart Corps member has the potential to impact each one of these students. I hope that throughout the rest of this semester, I will be able to remember this and put my best foot forward in helping these students to learn and grow. 

-Joonhee Park

New Semester

January 23, 2014

Coming into the new semester, our team faced a few challenges: we lost two members and a lot of our school schedules were packed.  After our first session of the semester earlier this week, we realized that session with 3 CMs and a team leader would not be an easy task. However, today's session proved that even if it was difficult, session could run effectively with the extra effort of all of our team members. 

For me, today started relatively slow. I had had a long night and was just overall exhausted from the long school week. However, when I got into the classroom, the smiles on all the students and their eager greetings filled me with a newfound energy and excitement to teach. There is no better way to be greeted this early in the morning than the bright smiles of all the students. It was definitely better than waking up to an 8:55. 

One thing that I realized from today's session was the impact that Jumpstart has had on these students just through one semester. After not seeing them for the entirety of winter break, working with these students again showed me how much they have grown since I first walked into their classroom. Students who could barely write their names were now writing not only their names but also the names of the rest of their classmates. The gradual growth isn't apparent at first but after being away from the students for an extended amount of time, I have now seen the effects of Jumpstart on the students' growth. 

While Jumpstart’s main purpose is to teach the students and help them to grow, I feel that I am benefitting just as much, if not more, from this experience. Can’t wait to see what this next semester has in store for Team Curiosity!

-Joonhee Park