WORCESTER, Mass. — Over the past six years, more than 160 Worcester State University students have helped city children learn critical skills through Jumpstart.

Those students join others from Clark University and Assumption College as they participate in the AmeriCorps-affiliated program.

“There’s a two-fold bonus,” said Worcester’s Jumpstart Coordinator Lynn Thompson. “Not only are we really able to enrich and help to prepare these young children for kindergarten, but there is also a benefit to the college students.”

Since 1993, Jumpstart has served as a national early education organization with children entering kindergarten, ensuring everyone is prepared to succeed. The program provides educational resources and promotes quality early learning for under-resourced communities. More than 50,000 college students have been part of the program nationally, serving more than 123,000 preschool children.

College students trained in the Jumpstart curriculum visit preschools and Head Start programs in Worcester to teach kids literacy, language, and other social skills. Most of the children come from underserved communities, where the need for support is especially acute.

Thompson says that about seven classrooms are served each year in Worcester, including the Worcester Headstart Program, Guild of St. Agnes and Webster Daycare. Thompson also said that about 123 children are served each year through the program.

“Worcester’s a gateway city, so there’s a lot of under-resourced neighborhoods,” Thompson said. “We’re able to spread our teams across the city and support those classroom teachers.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams of four visited their assigned programs twice a week, two hours at a time. The groups would read a story to the children and then run activity stations that included learning objectives like new vocabulary.

After a brief pause for a few months, the program restarted with virtual sessions, still reaching the same seven classrooms. Jumpstart sent out newsletters that included videos that the college students created, as well as curriculum bags, which included items like vocabulary flashcards, storybooks, and writing and art activities.

“The students really rallied and adapted the curriculum in innovative ways to be able to reach the classrooms in a variety of methods,” Thompson said. “A lot of the classrooms had to close their doors during the pandemic or switch over to some sort of virtual programming, so Jumpstart was able to support those classroom teachers and those programs by providing some extra activities.”

Thompson says this year will likely provide hybrid offerings. However, the virtual nature of the past year showed the creativity of their instructors, and the potential to reach even more students.

“One of the fun things that we discovered through the pandemic was college students are really creative, and they were able to make some amazing videos and content for families to utilize,” Thompson said. “A team may have made a video reading storybooks using puppets or fun little manipulatives. They were able to record those, and teachers could use those throughout the day, and families could access them as well.”

Jumpstart instructor Abby reads to a student. Courtesy photo.

The college students also have the opportunity to receive up to $3,000 from AmeriCorps, federal work study, or Mass Service Alliance stipends. While most students are education majors, all studies have been represented in the past. 

“We’ve had students part of the program for all four years, which is exciting,” Thompson said. “We’ve had students also switch majors. They start off as maybe an elementary school major or an undeclared major, then switch into an early childhood, which is really one of the great benefits of Jumpstart — supporting the early education workforce in the city.”