Jumpstart Kansas City

Jumpstart
Jumpstart Corps member Jamesia Rowe reads a story to four-year-old D’anjae at the Thomas/Roque Child and Family Development Center.

Jumpstart is a national program started in 1993 which pairs college students, called Corps members, with preschool children from low-income backgrounds in caring and supportive one-to-one relationships for an entire school year. Jumpstart currently operates in 19 states and 64 communities across the U.S.

In Kansas City, the Jumpstart Corps members are students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and Rockhurst University. During the 2006/2007 school year, 75 Corps members are working at six early childhood centers in the metropolitan area. More than 260 children from the six centers are participating in the program.

The twice-weekly, two-hour Jumpstart sessions are divided into three parts:

  1. During One-to-One Reading time, the children choose books to read with their Corps member, and the Corps member uses a reading method where a natural rhythm is established promoting both reading and discussion.
  2. At Circle Time, Corps members lead children in activities that combine literacy, language and social interaction, such as singing, fi nger-plays, and movement games.
  3. Choice Time, which is the longest period of the Jumpstart session, children choose and carry out their own plans. Corps members guide children to develop their plan, and to review it at the end of each session.

In addition to the two weekly Jumpstart sessions with the children, Corps members also spend 4 to 6 hours each week working in their partner child’s classroom.

Silvina Munita is the site manager for Jumpstart Kansas City. She says it is clear that the program is benefiting the children, their families and the Corps members.

“The key to Jumpstart’s success is the one-on-one relationship that the Corps members and children develop. Each member is able to spend a year with a child and learns how to build on that child’s strengths and work on the areas that can use some improvement.”

Jumpstart measures children’s progress through a measurement tool called the School Success Checklist, which assesses language and literacy, social, and initiative skills. The data shows that children who participate in Jumpstart programs consistently build skill levels at a greater rate than children who aren’t in the program.

The Jumpstart Corps members say they get as much out of the program as the children do. Heather Little, who is working on her master’s degree at UMKC, has been with the program for three years.

Centers participating in the Jumpstart program this year are:

For more information on the Jumpstart program in Kansas City, contact Silvina Munita at 816/235-1003.