Spring Break
Clearinghouse for Volunteers
Make the most of your break
Corrine Hawes
Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
11/6/08 - I know that most students want to get away during spring break to somewhere fun and warm, but that often costs a good amount of money. So why not go on a spring break trip for much cheaper while also getting a rewarding experience out of it?
The Feinstein Center for Service Learning and Jumpstart at the University of Rhode Island are introducing a brand new opportunity for an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) focused on literacy and young children.
Jumpstart is a national non-profit working toward the day when every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. Jumpstart recruits and trains college students to serve as part-time AmeriCorps members, working directly with and supporting young children in early childhood education programs. Jumpstart URI has been active for six years now and is the largest Jumpstart site in the Northeast region, with 88 Corps members serving 78 local Headstart and pre-school children.
What will this ASB focus on? Literacy! Jumpstart is primarily a literacy-based program. The college student Corps members work one-on-one with their partner child to help him or her improve reading and writing skills, along with other social and cognitive skills. You do not need to be in Jumpstart to participate! You only need to have a willingness to help others and learn about a current issue in Rhode Island and across the country.
So where is this trip going? Washington D.C. From Sunday, March 15 to Friday, March 20, 2008, 10 URI students will be serving and learning together about literacy and education issues in our nation's capital. Not only will we work with afterschool programs and other service-related agencies throughout the trip, but we will also visit Jumpstart's national office.
We will visit the First Book headquarters, too. First Book is a "nonprofit organization with the mission to provide children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books [www.firstbook.org]," and URI has the only First Book chapter in the state. Although our goal will be to help promote literacy with young children, we will also take time to visit the Capitol, the White House and all the other amazing sites and museums in the city.
Interested? Applications will be out Monday, Nov. 10, available in the Jumpstart office in Roosevelt Hall, room 133. The applications will be due on Friday, Nov. 21, and applicants will be notified by Nov. 26 regarding the decision. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Courtney O'Keefe (cokeefe1989@yahoo.com) or Corrine Hawes (Corrine.hawes@gmail.com), stop by the Clearinghouse for Volunteers (Roosevelt Hall, room 125.) Only 10 students will be allowed to attend and five slots will be reserved for current Jumpstart members or alumni.
The Feinstein Center for Service Learning and Jumpstart at the University of Rhode Island are introducing a brand new opportunity for an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) focused on literacy and young children.
Jumpstart is a national non-profit working toward the day when every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. Jumpstart recruits and trains college students to serve as part-time AmeriCorps members, working directly with and supporting young children in early childhood education programs. Jumpstart URI has been active for six years now and is the largest Jumpstart site in the Northeast region, with 88 Corps members serving 78 local Headstart and pre-school children.
What will this ASB focus on? Literacy! Jumpstart is primarily a literacy-based program. The college student Corps members work one-on-one with their partner child to help him or her improve reading and writing skills, along with other social and cognitive skills. You do not need to be in Jumpstart to participate! You only need to have a willingness to help others and learn about a current issue in Rhode Island and across the country.
So where is this trip going? Washington D.C. From Sunday, March 15 to Friday, March 20, 2008, 10 URI students will be serving and learning together about literacy and education issues in our nation's capital. Not only will we work with afterschool programs and other service-related agencies throughout the trip, but we will also visit Jumpstart's national office.
We will visit the First Book headquarters, too. First Book is a "nonprofit organization with the mission to provide children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books [www.firstbook.org]," and URI has the only First Book chapter in the state. Although our goal will be to help promote literacy with young children, we will also take time to visit the Capitol, the White House and all the other amazing sites and museums in the city.
Interested? Applications will be out Monday, Nov. 10, available in the Jumpstart office in Roosevelt Hall, room 133. The applications will be due on Friday, Nov. 21, and applicants will be notified by Nov. 26 regarding the decision. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Courtney O'Keefe (cokeefe1989@yahoo.com) or Corrine Hawes (Corrine.hawes@gmail.com), stop by the Clearinghouse for Volunteers (Roosevelt Hall, room 125.) Only 10 students will be allowed to attend and five slots will be reserved for current Jumpstart members or alumni.
