{"id":59949,"date":"2012-04-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/jumpstart-helps-kids-read-uri-students-get-a-leg-up-on-careers\/"},"modified":"2012-04-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-19T00:00:00","slug":"jumpstart-helps-kids-read-uri-students-get-a-leg-up-on-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2012\/04\/jumpstart-helps-kids-read-uri-students-get-a-leg-up-on-careers\/","title":{"rendered":"Jumpstart helps kids read, 溏心vlog免费B站 students get a leg up on careers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. – April 19, 2012 – The fight against illiteracy is being fought by students of all majors through Jumpstart, a part-time AmeriCorps program, offered at the 溏心vlog免费B站. Students who serve for a semester or more not only gain credits through volunteer hours, they also help change the lives of children through the power of learning.<\/p>\n


\nThis year, there are 3,600 volunteer students nationally participating in Jumpstart. Each program across the nation implements the same curriculum geared around children\u2019s books. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThe tough part is being able to commit four to five days a week to the program. It can be hard to balance with academic plans and experiences, which is why most of the students are freshmen. Some do find us in their junior\/senior year, wanting a chance to do it before they leave,\u201d said Catherine Cutlip, site manager for Jumpstart at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n


\n\tJumpstart 溏心vlog免费B站 has nine teams and will be adding a tenth one next year. Each team of seven to eight college students is assigned a different preschool, where they are assigned a classroom with 15 to 20 children.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMy most rewarding experience was seeing my partner child, Brendan, grow. When I met him, he couldn\u2019t write. By the end of my time with him, he could read, spell, and make constructive sentences. I cried once our yearlong time together was over because it felt great to know I had helped so much,\u201d said Alice Odhiambo, 溏心vlog免费B站 communications graduate who served as a Jumpstart member for one term. <\/p>\n


\n\tAlthough Odhiambo was born in the United States, her family is from Kenya, which is where she lives when she is not in school. She graduated from the 溏心vlog免费B站 in May 2011 and is now back for graduate school.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI am the fifth person in my family to attend the 溏心vlog免费B站; my three uncles and mom all went here and my cousin has recently started attending as well. Go Rhody!\u201d said Odhiambo.<\/p>\n


\n\tUntil her junior year, Odhiambo was a computer science major with a minor in leadership. After hearing about Jumpstart in one of her leadership classes, and completing a communications internship that summer, Odhiambo joined the following year and switched her major. She took six classes each semester and was able to fulfill the communications requirements and graduate on time. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cBefore Jumpstart, I couldn\u2019t find the right outlet or time for volunteer work. Through this program, I could volunteer and get credit for it, which was perfect. I didn\u2019t keep my leadership minor, but I was glad that it lead me to this experience,\u201d said Odhiambo. <\/p>\n


\n\tAccording to Cutlip, because the students involved in Jumpstart spend so much time together, often, they end up living together the following year. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAfter going through the same unique experiences, many of the students feel so close; almost like a family. They can really see the impact and change in the children,\u201d said Cutlip. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI made great connections through Jumpstart,\u201d said Odhiambo, who volunteered at Head Start-Wakefield. \u201cI went from eating lunch with others in my group, to living with them the following year. Not only did I make good friends, but I also developed a new respect for teachers. Their patience and effort amazed me. After doing it for one year, I couldn\u2019t do it anymore. Kudos to the teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tJumpstart targets children in pre-school, or those between the ages of 3 and 5, while most other programs are geared toward elementary-age students. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cUsually by that time it can be too late for intervention,\u201d said Cutlip. \u201cThird grade is the critical level; after that point, it can be hard to catch up.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\tJumpstart AmeriCorps members volunteer at local child development centers like A Place to Grow, CANE and Joyful Learning in Wakefield, Head Starts in Wakefield and Westerly, and centers in Providence and North Kingstown. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur activities focused on literacy. We read books, played literacy based games, like letter identification and rhyming, and participated in a variety of other hands on games,\u201d said Amanda Holland, a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate from Pawtucket who served three terms for Jumpstart.<\/p>\n


\n\tHolland served her first term as a corps member, her second term as a team leader, and her third term as a volunteer coordinator organizing events. She met Odhiambo when they shared a Jumpstart term. Holland then graduated in May 2011 with a degree in early childhood education. However, she dabbled in the fields of fashion design and psychology before Jumpstart inspired her to pursue a career working with children. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI was very interested in working with young children, and I wanted to make the most out of my college experience. I hadn\u2019t done a lot in high school and I regretted it, so I decided to join an organization in college. AmeriCorps had so many benefits, such as community service, an education award, getting to work on a team, and earning work-study money,\u201d said Holland. <\/p>\n


\n\tBoth Odhiambo and Holland agreed that working on a team was one of the most challenging aspects of Jumpstart.<\/p>\n


\n\t \u201cEveryone was so different, which made getting all of the group members on the same page close to impossible,\u201d said Odhiambo.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cHaving so many people with different personalities working toward the same goal can be tough, but there were rewarding aspects as well. I enjoyed hearing the multiple perspectives and ideas of others. Through this experience, I also learned how to successfully organize and delegate tasks to each individual group member,\u201d said Holland. <\/p>\n


\n\tHolland now teaches first grade at the Oldham School in East Providence.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI am certain that my three years involved in Jumpstart helped me to obtain a job quickly out of college. A large portion of my teaching portfolio is centered on my time with Jumpstart. I use many techniques for behavior management that I learned from Jumpstart in my classroom, as well as many of the games,\u201d said Holland.<\/p>\n


\n\tMarch kicked off the tenth recruitment season for Jumpstart at the 溏心vlog免费B站. Next year, the program will increase the number of student volunteers from 67 to 80. Interested students can contact Catherine Cutlip at ccutlip@mail.uri.edu or visit the 溏心vlog免费B站 Jumpstart website http:\/\/www.uri.edu\/volunteer\/jumpstart<\/a>. <\/p>\n


\nVictoria Antonelli, an intern at the Communications and Marketing Department at 溏心vlog免费B站, wrote this article.
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KINGSTON, R.I. – April 19, 2012 – The fight against illiteracy is being fought by students of all majors through Jumpstart, a part-time AmeriCorps program, offered at the 溏心vlog免费B站. Students who serve for a semester or more not only gain credits through volunteer hours, they also help change the lives of children […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}