June 24, 2008

Featured in This Update

General Update

Meetings

Ongoing Projects & Collaboration

Upcoming Events

 

General Update

ELI counts down until Friday, June 27 for Summer Stars 2008 at the Bayview Opera House, where five classrooms in five Bayview preschools will perform their favorite storybooks.

Please read more about ELI at our Web site, courtesy of Nicole:  http://jumpstartsfeli.wordpress.com/

 

Meetings

Meetings: June 28 BMagic is assisting in planning the events for Summer of Unity, which takes place at the Hunters View Housing Development. On July 12, Oakdale Housing Development will stage their Summer of Unity celebration.

 

Ongoing Projects & Collaborations

Family Literacy Nights

ELI sought to bring Summer Stars into the home on June 16 at Hunters View Head Start’s Family Literacy Night. Armed with free felt boards for Wheels on the Bus, ELI and local San Francisco volunteer Izzy encouraged HV families to continue practicing the book’s song and read it frequently at home. While children participated in literacy activities and read copies of Wheels on the Bus, parents and family members created felt boards to bring literacy home.  

Storybook Productions

Only a couple of days until Summer Stars 2008 is officially scheduled for Friday, June 27, 2008, from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. at the Bayview Opera House (just off the T Muni Line on Third Street.) Scroll down to sneak a peak inside the classroom at Sojourner Truth, whose students have diligently been preparing their singing voices for their presentation of Down by the Bay.

Laniah, Ella, Maria and Hanyiah (L to R) write about their Down by the Bay rehearsal in their Jumpstart Journals.

Laniah shows off her watermelon nametag.

Nicklas practices with his guitar (he stamped his name on it with individual letter stamps.)

In addition to the lively classroom at Sojourner Truth, Jumpstart / ELI has four other classrooms participating: two at Bret Harte CDC, one at  Hunters View Head Start, and one at FranDelJa. Bret Harte’s classrooms will present Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Where the Wild Things Are, FranDelJa will present on Are You My Mother? and Hunters View will roll with Wheels on the Bus.

ELI’s team, along with Jumpstart Corps members and Bay Area volunteers, has been hard at work for the past month working in the classrooms weekly. Classrooms weekly dive deep into each storybook, participating in literacy activities themed around the respective books and creatively interpreting the books through song, dance and some loud costumes!

Liz has arranged a great lineup of participating community organizations for Summer Stars, including: Parent University; Bayview Hunter’s Point YMCA; Bayview Hunter’s Point YMCA; TLC Family Resource Center; BMagic; the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families; Read for the Record; KIPP Academy Bayview; Raising a Reader; San Francisco Public Library; Childhood Matters/Nuestros Ninos; First 5 Family Ambassadors; First 5 and the Mayor’s Office of Community Development.

San Francisco Volunteers – ranging from Corps Members to future Western Regional office employees – have generously devoted hours to creating props and elaborate costumes for the Summer Stars children. A note from Nicole, who has worked tirelessly to recruit and manage myriad volunteers for Summer Stars: “Thanks so much to our amazing volunteers who’ve broken boundaries the past few weeks when it comes to being creative and making superb props out of the hobnob materials in our back storage room! To note: a tractor costume, giant horns, bus driver hats, and life-size vines! This upcoming performance will definitely be an event to remember!”

Family Workshops at Parent University

Jumpstart wrapped up a month-long series of School Readiness Family Workshops with a celebration at Parent University. Children in attendance created their very own ABC Books (courtesy of Pearson) and participated in literacy activities at MLK Elementary in Bayview. This partnership between Jumpstart’s Early Literacy Initiative and Parent University introduced area children 0-5 to classics such as Jack Keats’ A Letter for Amy and Bill Martin, Jr.’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom while simultaneously creating opportunities for their families to assemble take-home literacy activities. Many thanks to Parent University for their partnership and to MLK Elementary for hosting.

Reader’s Program

Jumpstart is in the process of launching a new program involving “Readers”  - volunteers who are trained on methods for developing social and literacy skills in preschool-aged children.  Readies receive abbreviated versions of Jumpstart trainings focused on dialogic reading and our philosophy for working with children.  Readies commit to a more long-term volunteer schedule for 2-4 hours a week, assisting with classroom activities, engaging children through reading and play, and improving the program center’s literacy environment.  Unlike our traditional Jumpstart program, Readies volunteer in pairs or alone depending on the needs of the volunteers and sites.  Readers help with children and routines within the learning environment. And great news from Bayview:  We now have a solid group of four Readers volunteering regularly at Charles Drew, and are getting ready to train the next round on July 8, 2008 from 5-7:30pm at our office. If you want to learn more about being a part of the next cohort of superstar volunteers, please contact Nicole at Nicole.sirivansanti@jstart.org.

 

Upcoming Events

Friday, June 27: Summer Stars at the BayView Opera House

Thursday, July 17 – Thursday, Sept. 4:  Visitacion Valley Family Workshops

Thursday, October 2: Read for the Record