‘A Taste of Kindergarten’

By Jillian Daley

Kindergarteners leapt into the classroom last week during the fourth annual Jump Start, a program to prepare students for North Marion Primary School.

The program, held in the mornings from August 16 to 19, is “basically a taste of kindergarten,” Secretary Karla Morales-Rivera explains. This fall, Primary School teachers will be educating about 97 kindergartners (six classrooms). Jump Start offers a chance for almost all of them, 75 students, to see what learning is all about: soaking up new experiences with calendars and schedules, meetings, eating lunch in a cafeteria, and waiting in line.

“They have no idea how to wait in line,” teacher Emily Miller notes (something we all learned so long ago that many of us have forgotten that someone had to teach us). “They hear a story, do a little project (such as a fun one with emojis). They have the opportunity to adjust.”

The Jump Start experience seemed to have worked out well for students like 4-year-old Kelvin Gerdes.

“It’s pretty good,” he said. “It’s really fun. Well, I like building (with Legos).”

Kelvin’s particularly been enjoying getting to know his teachers.

“I like them,” he says. “I like all the things about my teachers.”

To share your story on the North Marion School District, email Communications Specialist Jillian Daley at jillian.daley@nmarion.k12.or.us.