Jumpstart Program Overview
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Jumpstart engages dedicated, trained adults who are interested in providing language and literacy support to small groups of preschool children through yearlong relationships and consistent delivery of Jumpstart sessions in program partner classrooms. The majority of Jumpstart Corps members nationwide are students at our higher education partner campuses, such as USC. Others are community members from a variety of sectors who participate in Jumpstart through our city based Community Corps program. While Jumpstart Corps members serve for a minimum of one academic year, Jumpstart provides them with experience in classrooms and communities that increases early childhood knowledge and builds awareness of community and social issues that impact young children, fostering a pipeline of future educators and champions of early childhood education.
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During the regular school year, teams of Jumpstart Corps members engage a classroom of preschool children in two-hour Jumpstart session twice a week. Through Jumpstart sessions, teams deliver a curriculum based on Jumpstart's three language and literacy domains: oral language, books and print knowledge, and phonological awareness. Each Corps member is paired with approximately three-four children and supports these partner children directly through select sessions elements, sharing responsibility for supporting the larger classroom of children during other parts of the session
Jumpstart
Foster Grandparent Program.
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Pepperdine University has served as a champion of the Foster Grandparent Program since 1972. This program is a staple of the Pepperdine family, originating at the first campus on 79th and Vermont, in the center of South Central Los Angeles (Service Planning Area 6). Through this long-standing commitment, Pepperdine facilitates and manages collaborations between community service agencies, schools, educators, and volunteers willing to serve those most in need.
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A Community Need
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Recognizing the need to address the growing socioeconomic issues of two separate demographic groups, the Pepperdine GSEP Foster Grandparent Program enables older adults to maintain independence, quality of life, and purpose through providing volunteer service hours by way of working with disadvantaged children. Foster Grandparent volunteers are mentors, tutors, and friends to children with exceptional needs or circumstances. We partner with schools and community-based organizations in service planning areas (SPA) 4, 6, 7, and 8, which encompass Carson, Inglewood, Downey, Compton, Eagle Rock, Long Beach, Los Angeles, South Gate, Crenshaw and Watts, just to name a few. Each year, Pepperdine recruits, trains and places over 168 senior volunteers who are low-income, out of the workforce and over the age of 55. Annually, the program serves over 5000 county residents of all ages. As the population ages, the Pepperdine GSEP Foster Grandparent Program is focused on promoting healthy aging in place for older adults residing in some of the most vulnerable areas of Los Angeles county
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