Jumpstart prepares children and students

By: Nila Hall

Posted: 2/19/07

Jumpstart is a nationwide program devoted to helping children between ages 3 and 5 prepare for school. It was founded by Yale University in 1993.

Between September 2006 and May 2007, Jumpstart Kansas City will serve over 260 children. Sixty-seven will get one-on-one attention, at Head Start centers and other preschools serving low-income families in Kansas City. It recruits and trains 75 colleges students from UMKC and Rockhurst University to mentor preschool children at risk for future school failure.

This year the number of volunteers has doubled from about 30-36 student volunteers, also known as core members, to about 70 student volunteers.

The purpose of the program is to help children from low-income backgrounds work together on language, literacy, social and initiative skills.

Jumpstart is funded by AmeriCorps, which is a network of local, state and national service programs that connects more than 70,000 programs.

Jumpstart believes every child has potential and it's a matter of encouraging children to fulfill that potential.

"If they don't have anyone to believe in them, they lose the incentive to try," said Esther Barrett, a senior working within the program this year.

Not only does this program have an impact on the children, it has an impact on the volunteers.

"It's the best job I've ever had," Barrett said.

Statistics show the need for such a program: one in three children enters school with the necessary skills to succeed.

Another factor is the shortage of teachers, which makes it difficult to devote individual time to each student. The student- teacher ratio is about one to 10.

Jumpstart Kansas City works with the Douglass Early Childhood Center, Hartman Head Start, Metro Early Learning Center, Operation Breakthrough, Plaza de Ninos and the Thomas/Roque Child and Family Development Center.

Jumpstart Kansas City is an AmeriCorps program within the UMKC Center for Academic Development.

Jumpstart is actively accepting applications for anyone who is interested. Students who do work study may also apply.

Jumpstart UMKC Kansas City is among the 43 winners of the 2007 Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards. This is the fourth year Jumpstart has received this award.

"I am proud to be a part of an organisation that not only produces results, but has a proven growth record," Jumpstart manager Silvina Munita said. "I see the results time and time again in the accomplishments in the children as well as the college students."

nhall@unews.com