Week 1 of JumpStart Sabalito was a success! We have two camps of 22 students each with a total of 44 students facilitated by two MEP teachers, Diego and Teresa, a recent college grad volunteer from the U.S., Shareesa and myself, a Peace Corps volunteer.
On our high school tour today (as part of the high school
preparation segment), the students told us their hopes, worries, and questions
about high school. Most students worried about not being able to find their
classrooms on the first day or not being able to pass their classes. They told
us that the JumpStart camp is helping them to meet friends and feel more
comfortable in the high school before school starts. I asked one student, Daniela,
if she missed her vacations, “No,” she replied, “this camp is more fun than my
summer vacation at home!”
Using English only in the classroom, we have been taking
tickets when students have spoken Spanish. This week, we had 11 students (half
the class) who didn’t speak English all week! We gave them cupcakes and special
pens as prizes. The other half of the class had only spoken English one to five
times the entire week! So far, speaking English unless using the Spanish Hat
has been a success. 
The students have been supporting each other with their
learning. When we were learning the verb “to live,” and a student would say a
sentence with “he live…” or “she live…,” the rest of the class would chime in
with “sssssss” to remind the student of the 3rd person form
“livessss,” and we would all end up laughing at how silly we all sounded. We
can’t wait for Week 2!
