COLUMBIA — Chelsey Morgan, a sophomore education major at MU, will never forget the day the preschooler she tutors learned Chinese calligraphy.

“He wrote the word flower and then showed it to every adult he could find,” Morgan said, who is in her first year of tutoring with Jumpstart. “He was so proud of himself.”

That is one moment that stuck out in the mind of Morgan, but she said there have been hundreds of great experiences in Jumpstart she will always remember.

Jumpstart is an early intervention, one-on-one tutoring program that has 70 locations nationwide. It was founded at MU in 2003 from a grant written by Joseph Johnston, director for the MU Career Center. Johnston also serves as the program’s campus champion.
Chrissie Bennett has been the director of Jumpstart at MU since its founding. When it started, there were 30 tutors. Now there are 80.

At the beginning of each year, Jumpstart works with eight non-profit preschools to determine which students are at-risk. The teachers fill out an assessment tool for every child, which Jumpstart uses to select eligible children. According to Bennett, it is usually half of the class. Those kids are then paired with a college-age tutor.

There are plenty of statistics to support Jumpstart’s cause. Kids from upper- and middle-class families enter kindergarten with 20,000 words in their vocabularies. Kids from lower-income families enter with about 5,000 words, according to Bennett.

“These kids have been identified as struggling with learning and with having interest in school,” Bennett said. "When kids start school with kindergarten, Jumpstart’s mission is to help ensure that all kids are at the same level and ready for success.”

Bennett says that this program is unique because of its dedication to academics. Even when the children are playing, the tutors are trained to incorporate as much learning into each activity as possible.

Tutors, who are students at MU and Columbia College, are involved with Jumpstart as a work-study program. Each goes through six weeks of training for 10 hours a week prior to pairing with a child. Training focuses on basic child development, behavior management and problem solving.

The tutors are then paired with a child. Morgan said the hardest day was the first.

“It was very intimidating,” said Morgan. “The kids didn’t know us, so it was hard getting to know Kendrick and what he likes. It’s important to build a strong relationship early on.”

Morgan has seen firsthand the amazing effects that Jumpstart can have on a child in such a short time.
“When we first started, Kendrick wasn’t ordering the letters in his name the right way,” Morgan said. “Now he knows his middle name, sounds, blends (like the SH sound), and is more in control of his body.”

Morgan says the relationship they have built goes far beyond that of a sibling.

“I am definately his friend. He knows that I care about him,” Morgan said. “But there have been plenty of times he has called me Mom, so I think I am a little of both.”
The advances they have made in just one year together have even surprised Morgan.

“He knows the difference between translucent, transparent, and opaque,” laughed Morgan. “I didn’t really know the difference between them when we started.”

Fran Grant is a preschool teacher at West Boulevard Elementary School, one of the Jumpstart sites. Grant said she can see the amazing effects the Jumpstart tutors have on her students every day.

“They have a mentoring relationship. The kids see them as a friend, and in time as a teacher,” said Grant. “But the word relationship is the most important thing for these children. Some of them just need positive role models in their lives, and Jumpstart can give it to them.”
The achievements made in Jumpstart are both academic as well as behavioral.

“There is a clear difference in literacy skills, confidence in those skills and their attention span in those skills,” said Grant.

In addition to working with kids on school days, Jumpstart also offers sessions on Fridays at some sites. Because most preschools only operate Monday through Thursday, having a place to send their child for the fifth day at no cost is an invaluable resource for many families.

“Since our families are coming from low income, some of them are working two jobs or something like that,” Bennett said. “It’s hard for them to find that fifth day of care. If not for Jumpstart, the child may be at a neighbor’s house watching TV all afternoon. If we can get kids to be in an educational environment, that’s what we want to do.”

When children arrive, they are asked to find their nametags on a table. This helps them recognize letters not only in their own names, but in friend’s names as well.

Then they move to their “start the day center.” Here, children have a choice of reading a book, going to the art table or playing at the puzzle center. While the children understand this time to be fun and games, the tutors are always pointing out educational opportunities. Then they go to one-on-one reading. Here, children select a book to read individually with their tutor. While most of the children cannot read yet, they work on word recognition and identifying pictures with words.

Next, they all get together for “circle time.” Children sing songs that require them to identify rhyming words, for example. The day continues like that for the full two-hour session.

Both Bennett and Morgan said that families of the children have shown overwhelming support for the program.

“We’ve never had a family turn us down for anything other than their child couldn’t be there for the times we needed to be there,” said Bennett. “The No. 1 reason kids can’t participate is the logistics. Parents have to pick kids up at a certain time or transportation issues.”

Bennett says that there are two mandatory meetings during the year that help keep parents involved in Jumpstart.

“It’s important to us for families to know what’s going on in Jumpstart all throughout the year,” Bennett said. “We encourage families to build on what’s going on at Jumpstart at home.”

Work-study programs are available for students as a form of financial aid. Students are employed by the university to work on or off campus part time to help pay for their education.

In Jumpstart, students make $8 an hour. After two years, students can apply to be team leaders. If the team leader is in graduate school, Jumpstart also pays one year of tuition.

Students from MU and Columbia College interested in applying to become a Jumpstart tutor can visit the MU Career Center Web site for more information.