JLW at Jubilee Jumpstart!

The Junior League of Washington (JLW) has been the cause of much delight at Jubilee JumpStart!

We began the year with the reward of an opportunity grant and a delivery of 165 books to freshen our classroom libraries. This was followed by a delivery of over 2,000 books in April! The books have rejuvenated our center library, and have a number of exciting uses. They will be used in each individual classroom to complement the lessons being taught; a backpack program has been implemented for each child to bring home a book to read with their parents; and since we have 52 little readers, some of the books will be given to the children so they can build their own home libraries with beautiful new books. The JLW also provided six wonderful volunteers to come read with our children during our “Pajama Day”. What better time to read a book then when you’re curled up in your pj’s? The kids were so excited when the ladies jumped right into the mix and read lots of new stories to them.

Jubilee JumpStart strives to lessen the achievement gap between poor and non-poor children before they reach kindergarten by placing a heavy focus on dual-language literacy within a low-income population.

Jubilee JumpStart provides comprehensive dual-language early education services for fifty-two children from six weeks to five years of age; Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Our mission is to ensure that children are fully prepared for success in school and beyond by providing them with early education enriched by an intense focus on social and emotional well-being and practical support to their families. Jubilee JumpStart empowers families to move up and out of poverty by helping children and parents to realize their educational and career opportunities.

Each day, and within each independent classroom, there are 3+ hours of pre-literacy activities. Emphasizing the importance of reading aloud in the classroom and at home, the teachers help children to learn and develop language, while simultaneously encouraging them to understand and value literacy. There are three to four daily read aloud sessions in each classroom, which take place in both English and Spanish. Accompanying read aloud sessions, the teachers incorporate activities that help the children to integrate and understand the books that they are reading. In the Pre-K Classroom, children are encouraged to act out the story using materials and costumes from drama. In the Toddler and Pre-K classrooms, each child may bring a book to nap time. Through these daily routines the children are able to develop a positive association with reading and learning.

We are in the right place to foster a love of reading at the very youngest ages and the Junior League of Washington has proven to be a wonderful partner in our mission!

- Jubilee Jumpstart

Why I Serve: Bringing Smiles

My colleague, friends and family have long since accepted that many nights I have a “Junior League thing”—especially when they see the spark that the Junior League of Washington (JLW) has added to my life since moving to D.C. nearly 8 years ago. Raised by a mother who brings new meaning to the term ‘do gooder’, a grandmother who (even into her 80s) volunteers at the town library, and later dozens of teachers at my prep school who ignited a passion for education and service in me, the JLW was the perfect organization for me to join.

Simply put, I volunteer because I love smiles. I love to smile, love to see others smile, and love to make people smile—especially those who maybe do not have as many things about which to ‘smile’. This year, I’ve had the pure pleasure of serving as the JLW’s Community Affairs Council and in that role, I’ve had the chance to be a bit of a smile fairy.

In September, over 550 of you smiled to the over 200,000 National Book Festival goers as they stood in line to meet their favorite authors, played in the PBS Kids tent, or rocked out to one of the story time bands in the Target Family Pavilion.

JLW Volunteers at the National Book Fest

Since June 2012, through joint-leadership by the Community Affairs Council and Ways and Means Council, JLW’s Resolution Read 100,000 books project has distributed nearly 50,000 books to D.C. area kids – resulting in way more than 50,000 smiles.

This fall, the Community Affairs Council, via the Targeted Grants and Volunteer Resources Committee, gave out three new grants to D.C. non-profits working to make illiteracy an issue of the past – Jubilee Jumpstart, Little Lights Urban Ministry, and Hope House, DC – resulting in many, many more smiles.

On Saturday, March 2, the Community Event Planning Committee is hosting another ‘smile-maker’ event – the free Annual Kids in the Kitchen children’s health, nutrition and fitness fair—at the YMCA National Capital (1711 Rhode Island Avenue NW) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. At Kids in the Kitchen, children of all ages will learn how to eat smart and make healthy lifestyle choices through exciting hands-on games and demonstrations, energizing games and delicious healthy snacks. This will be my fifth Kids in the Kitchen event and I can’t wait to strap on my apron and ‘get healthy’ with the nearly 400 kids expected for Saturday’s event. 

If tasty treats and yoga-for-kids don’t get you smiling, a new partnership between the JLW, Association of Junior League International, and Colgate’s Bright Smiles Bright Futures Campaign surely will. Colgate’s Campaign, along with their Mobile Dental Van will be joining this year’s Kids in the Kitchen to provide FREE dental screenings to kids ages 1 to 12, along with a toothbrush, games and information on oral hygiene, and a ‘report card’ on their smile. As one of seven Junior Leagues selected by AJLI to partner with Colgate and the Bright Smiles Bright Futures Campaign, we are especially excited to have the van on Saturday and at Kids in the Kitchen and other JLW events in the next few months, including D.C.’s largest homeless shelter, D.C. General.

I hope to see you all on Saturday at Kids in the Kitchen, at an upcoming Resolution Read book distributions and read-aloud sessions, or other JLW events soon – I’ll be one with the big smile.

Carly Susan Rockstroh
Community Affairs Council Director

Jubilee JumpStart, Grant Recipient

The Junior League of Washington (JLW) is pleased to announce Jubilee JumpStart as the first of three organizations the JLW has awarded an opportunity grant to this fall. Opportunity grants are grants for less than $1,000 and are awarded to community organizations that are addressing one of the following complex areas of the JLW’s narrowed children’s reading literacy focus (1) lack of books in the home; (2) lack of books and resources in the school; and/or (3) reading out loud to children ages 0 – 5.

Jubilee JumpStart is an early childhood education center located in Jubilee Housing, a subsidized housing community in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, and provides comprehensive dual-language early education services for fifty-two children from six weeks to five years of age; Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Their mission is to ensure that children are fully prepared for success in school and beyond by providing them with early education enriched by an intense focus on social and emotional well-being and practical support to their families. Jubilee JumpStart empowers families to move up and out of poverty by helping children and parents to realize their educational and career opportunities.

Jubilee JumpStart serves a diverse community of primarily low-income families, 75% of whom are eligible for government childcare subsidies. The families Jubilee JumpStart serves are among the most economically-disadvantaged in the District. More than 65% of Jubilee Housing families bring home less than 30% of Area Median Income, and half earn less than 20% of Area Median Income. Jubilee JumpStart’s student population reflects the diversity of our community. Currently, 25% the children served are Jubilee Housing residents, 75% are from low-income families, and 80% are either African-Americans or Latinos.

Jubilee JumpStart has begun the process of obtaining accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), with a candidacy date of January 31, 2013, and successful completion anticipated by July 31, 2013. By achieving NAEYC accreditation in July of 2013, the subsidy reimbursement rate will increase by 16% which will help in the organization’s daily operations. In order for to achieve NAEYC accreditation, specific criteria must be met, some of which specifically addresses cognitive development in early literacy, including varied opportunities for the different age levels to have access to books that enable independent exploration, writing materials, ways to retell and reenact stories in books, and exposure to print books, songs and rhymes. Jubilee JumpStart’s dual language program requires that books and other literacy materials are provided in both English and Spanish.

The $1,000 from the JLW will allow Jubilee JumpStart to enhance the early literacy materials they currently have for each age group, such as writing materials, CDs, dramatic play supplies, and language literacy training for the teachers. The JLW also awarded 164 books through Resolution Read - the age appropriate books, for children ages six weeks through five years old, will include durable board books, picture books, books with rhymes, and books with print so children can familiarize themselves with words in both English and Spanish.

Stay tuned to the blog to hear about the other two organizations the JLW has given grants to, Hope House DC and Little Lights Urban Ministries.

In the spring, the JLW will be awarding additional opportunity grants to community organizations, with a deadline of February 1 for submission of materials. Additional information can be found online. If you have questions about the opportunity grants or want additional information, please contact Alicia Lee, chair of the Targeted Grants and Volunteer Resources Committee at grantsandvolunteers@jlw.org.

Alicia Lee
Chair, Targeted Grants and Volunteer Resources Committee