Why I chose Jumpstart

I am sure there are many reasons why students at Wheelock College wish to participate in Jumpstart. I was unsure whether I was ready for the time commitment and responsibility of being a corps member. However, once I truly understood what the program was about, I knew it was something I wished to be involved in. It is a great way to give back to the community and be a positive leader in a child's life. This semester has showed me that I made the right decision in joining Jumpstart. The children make me so happy and I truly feel that I am enhancing their literacy skills along with being there for them when they need it.

Kayla Sharpe 

Why I joined Jumpstart

I was first interested in Jumpstart because I knew that participating in a classroom setting would enlighten for me the intensity with which I want to be a teacher.  I found that this opportunity would also allow me insights as to whether I would like to work in the city or out in the suburbs.  I had already worked with Jumpstart-age children during my senior year of high school every other day, and it was very enjoyable to play with the children each day at recess and see their progress in their academics throughout the year.  Although Jumpstart was a much greater time commitment and responsibility, I felt that I was ready to accept the challenge and was hopeful that I could benefit at least one child’s school experience during my time in Jumpstart.  When I was informed that the Jumpstart corps members work with children and families of a less favorable socio-economic status than average, I felt a greater connection to the mission of Jumpstart.  I understand the inherent disadvantages starting any task or journey without the same means as others.  I applied to join Jumpstart because I felt that it would allow me an opportunity to help children be prepared for school and be prepared to handle any obstacles that life delivers to them.  I hope that my experience will allow me to acquire a better understanding of the qualities I have that can be used to benefit people’s lives.

Ian Driscoll

Ruggles Tuesday- Friday!!!

Since the last blog entry, our team (Ruggles Tuesday-Friday) has had two new kids join the preschool and the Jumpstart program. We have moved from the theme of family on to the theme of friends in our session plans. We have been reading books, like The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza, A Letter to Amy, and Hooray, a Piñata! The children have loved all of them as witnessed through their play. The children express their understanding of the concept of friendship most often in dramatic play. We have moved on from developing alphabet knowledge through the exploration of name cards to the actual sounds of letters. This is working well so far and is something that adapts to the children’s increasing learning level. We hope the great progress continues throughout the year!

Kyle Wardwell

Why I chose to be apart of Jumpstart…

         When I first applied to Wheelock College, I had no idea what Jumpstart was. After sitting in on an information session, I fell in love with the program. Ever since I was twelve years old, I have been working with children. I started off as a babysitter near my house and then I began to work at a preschool when I was a freshman in High School. Jumpstart gave me the opportunity to continue doing what I love most, working with children, while also giving me the chance to volunteer and give back to my community. I love how Jumpstart reaches out to the children and families that don’t always have the resources needed to prepare children to succeed in school. After doing Jumpstart last year, I witnessed my partner children learn how to spell and write their own names in such a short time period. Being able to see how much what we do benefits the children we work with is so amazing and I cannot wait to help so many more children in this way. Jumpstart has not only confirmed that I want to continue to teach preschool age children, but it has also helped me develop myself as a whole. I cannot wait to come back from winter break!

Lynndsay Holden

Prince Roberto and his R

Once upon a time, in the far away land of Ellen Jackson, a little prince named Roberto had a hard time identifying letters. Each letter first received the guess of ‘G’ or ‘A’. The problem was, in fact, that he was just guessing. His fairy-god-teachers, along with myself, his Jumpstart-sidekick, have been working on spelling his name with him. He can now identify his ‘R’ with ease, exclaiming with joy whenever he sees it. Hearing Roberto correctly identify his R for the first time sent shivers down my spine. I couldn’t contain my excitement; I was so proud of him. Not only can he now recognize the letter, but he is beginning to realize that his ‘R’ makes the ‘errrr’ sound, like a growling tiger. This fairytale is a non-fiction story with no end in sight, for this child will never stop improving and will never stop learning.

Kristin Fagan

About Crispus Attucks and Our Team

My team’s preschool is the Crispus Attucks Children Center located in Dorchester. It is a pretty long trip to travel there, but is well worth it. Crispus Attucks is the second largest provider of infant, toddler, and preschool care in Boston. It is definitely the biggest preschool I have ever seen. There are around 200 children at the center ranging from one month to six years old. Crispus Attucks has been around for almost thirty years. There are two huge buildings. One building is used for mostly the infants and toddlers, while the other building is used for preschool-age children. The buildings contain fifteen classrooms, a playground, a kitchen, a gym, and computers in every classroom. There are around sixty-five teachers and staff members. All of the staff members are very welcoming and friendly. The teachers also know each other very well and seem to have made a very close community and support group for each other. Our team has seven corps members, plus our team leader Melissa Ferragamo. The corps members are Sarah Fenty, Keveisha Robinson-Clark, Vanessa Lugo, Caroline Listernick, Sarah Willey, Chelsea Szalanski, and of course, me, Jenn Vigue. We have all enjoyed our first few weeks at Crispus Attucks. We have started to get to know our classroom teachers, Mrs. Jones and Ms. Ella, quite well. Both teachers have worked at the preschool for a very long time. Although my team has a lot of different personalities and a lot of differences, we all seem to have fallen in love with the children in our classroom.

-Jenn

Why I chose to be a part of Jumpstart

I first heard about Jumpstart last semester when I transferred. All I knew about the program was that college students work with preschoolers on their reading and literacy skills. I also learned that the preschools the students go to are in lower-income neighborhoods. These facts that I heard from other students who are a part of Jumpstart made me want to find out more. So I set up a meeting with Hilary (the site manager at my college), and she informed me more of what Jumpstart is all about. As I learned more about this wonderful program, I wanted to get more involved. I love working with preschoolers, and especially children who have a lower-income status, because then I know that I can really make a difference. I wanted to sacrifice and commit my time to these children to teach them how to read and to build upon their skills. I was looking forward to working with other college students as well. I wanted to build upon my skills to work with a team so that together, we can all make a difference in children’s lives.

Heather MacDonald

The Larger Picture

I chose to become part of Jumpstart because I wanted to have more of a connection with children. I thought that the three hours a week as a part of the Human Growth and Development placement wasn't enough of a connection with the children and I wanted more. I wanted to have a bigger impact on children's lives and I thought Jumpstart was a great way to do that. I also value creating a strong bond with the members of my Jumpstart team.

Ashley Monck

Jumpstart is back in session!!

After spending nine hours in our winter training this past Saturday, all of Wheelock's Corps members were eager to return to sessions this week. Today was the first day of sessions for some teams. Hopefully, the Boston weather won't prevent sessions from occuring tomorrow. Here at Wheelock College, tomorrow is a special day for everyone. We will be celebrating Wheelock's Fifth Annual Half-Year Program which will be focused on Haiti, where there will be many guest speakers. Along with this exciting news, The Home Childcare Pilot Team will also be starting session again tomorrow morning! Thank you for your support here and we invite you to join us for session!

Winter Break

As the days go by during the break, all the corps members are eager to return to school and to Jumpstart. With a new year comes new memories here at Wheelock. We return to school in a couple of weeks and then sessions begins again the third week of January. We all look foward to seeing all of the children again and cannot wait to read our next core story book!