Jumpstart becomes permanent fixture on campus

Jumpstart, a national tutoring organization for preschoolers, is making changes to the way it works with Tufts in order to make the program more efficient. Melissa Russell has been hired as a campus manager to coordinate the University's students.

With a full-time presence, Russell hopes to better cater to the Tufts community by forming alliances with different departments and student organizations. This year, Jumpstart has become a part of UCCPS, which is based in the Lincoln-Filene Center.

"Each year, 35 percent of children in America enter kindergarten unprepared to learn," reads a Jumpstart pamphlet. "They'll struggle with early literacy skills, speech, and social interaction, and they'll fall further behind their peers as the year progresses." The pamphlet conveys the need for college students to participate in its program.

Jumpstart pairs college students one-on-one with preschoolers. For a year, the pair works together intensively on literacy skills with the goal of preparing the child to successfully enter kindergarten. The non-profit organization's focus is on early childhood development and teacher recruitment. The Jumpstart pamphlet tells of last year's success _ ending the program with the children "having matched or surpassed their peers in every skill area."

Before Russell was hired to manage Tufts students participating in Jumpstart, "a manager could be in charge of three different sites, and there would often be scheduling conflicts with Tufts students," Russell said. "With me here, I can concentrate on this group of members. It should make the program much more efficient."

Although Tufts students have long been involved with Jumpstart, the program is growing both nationally and locally. This fall, the number of sites will rise to 30 as new universities join the Jumpstart network. Participation is up 150 percent since last fall.

Founded by two Yale students in 1993, Jumpstart is a branch of AmeriCorps. The organization aims to enrich the lives of struggling children in low-income families through intensive adult-child interaction. Jumpstart Corps members have served more than 12,000 children nationwide. The service movement hopes to expand its influence to 50 sites by 2005.

The program reaches out to the parents of tutored children as well. "Jumpstart encourages members to form relationships with the parents," Russell said. "A main focus is on the family relationship. We want to make sure that what is learned in the classroom goes home with the children."

Students can participate in two different programs. A 300-hour program runs from October through May, while the 525-hour program takes place in the summer.

Tufts students who commit to Jumpstart become AmeriCorps members and work at preschools in the Boston area. For dedicating their energy to the program, students get paid: a $1,000 education award is available to those who commit for one school year, while students who work for a school year and a summer earn $1,250. They also have the option of earning their work-study award by becoming a Corps member.

Jumpstart members go through 60 hours of training. By giving students the opportunity to return their second year as team leaders, Jumpstart opens many doors for students interested in pursuing education as a career. Grants, training programs, and internships are available to aspiring teachers.

"The fact that Jumpstart is 100 percent funded by the government means that the school system doesn't pay for any of the tutoring," said Joanne Grande, the director of student employment. "This is what makes it such a great program," Grande said.

Some participating students are majoring in Child Development or are interested in pursuing education in the future. However, Russell says many of the members are not experienced at all. Senior Victoria Plotkin was majoring in architectural studies in the engineering department when she decided to participate in Jumpstart. "I was getting a little burnt out and wanted to get involved in something a little different," she said.

Plotkin was paired up with a boy from a Cambridge area preschool. Working alongside seven or eight other Tufts students, she spent an average of three days a week in the classroom, and found it very rewarding.

Plotkin was a Corps member from the fall of her sophomore year until the summer before her junior year. "We worked with our children in three hour sessions three times a week," she said. "In some extra sessions, we would give them more help with homework after school." Over the summer, Plotkin got to work with another experienced Corps member in front of a classroom where they helped the teacher with the curriculum and worked closely with the students