Aera Shin’s single most important piece of advice for the incoming freshman at Kentwood High was simple.

“Don’t procrastinate,” she told a group of soon to be ninth graders in Michael Takayoshi’s classroom.

Shin, a senior and a member of the school’s leadership club Conk Crew, explained to the teens who were participating in a new program called Jump Start that she had learned that lesson the hard way.

Jump Start is an effort by Kentwood staff to identify potentially at-risk incoming ninth graders with the intent to provide them with extra support before the first day of school even starts.

“I know it’s easier said than done, especially on your culminating project,” Shin said.

She also advised the freshmen, 16 of them in a small group breakout, to befriend their advisors “because you’re going to be with them for four years.”

This program first became a concept a few years ago, according to Assistant Principal Joe Potts, who said that staff had looked at student data related to earning credits on time and passing classes.

“The program is designed specifically to help ninth graders make the transition into high school,” Potts said. “What we want to do with Jump Start is to help students get organized. We want to equip them with note taking strategies, organizational strategies that will help them succeed.”

Last year, Potts said, with the help of teachers, principals and counselors at Mattson and Meeker middle schools they “identified students who we thought might really benefit from this program.”

“We had assemblies at those middle schools and we whooped it up and tried to convince the ninth graders that this would be a great opportunity … so that they would be prepared for the first day,” he said. “Coming from middle school with 400 or 500 students to a high school with 2,400 students can be a shock.”

By easing the transition for students who may otherwise struggle during the transition to Kentwood High, Potts said, this will ensure more of those students will earn all their credits and move onto sophomore year and beyond.

“Our goal is for the kids to graduate with a college ready transcript,” he said. “There are some really distinct things that ninth graders need. They need to learn how to keep a notebook, they need to learn how to keep a calendar, they need to learn to write down their homework assignments. When they’re in an environment as flooded with distractions as this one they absolutely need organizational strategies.”

Jump Start began on Tuesday, running from 9 a.m. to noon for three days straight, with a natural segue into freshman orientation on Friday.

“The program begins each day here in the commons and we have an ice breaker,” Potts said. “From there we go to small group breakouts where the kids are going to get binders, organizational tools … to help them begin the process of getting organized.”

Later in the program they return learn some additional lessons on topics that will prepare them for high school and finally they get some lunch.

“Activities are focused on achievement and academic skill building,” Potts said. “So most of them will be here for four days, which is an advantage for them, and it’s great for us because we get to know them.”

Funded by a federal Small Learning Communities grant, Potts said, they are able to pay for the supplies the students get but lunch is provided with the help of local service clubs such as the Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis.

“We thought it was important for kids to sit and eat and get to know each other …here in the commons where they’re going to be eating for the next four years,” Potts said.

Plus that will help the teens form some bonds with students, building a peer support network before school starts, in addition to the adult support system the program is intended to provide.

Tokayoshi, who teaches twelfth grade English at the high school and serves as an advisor, also had some advice for his small group breakout.

“A couple of things I will say from a teachers perspective while you’re in the halls, try, try, try not to wear hats and keep your cell phones off or on vibrate and keep your headphones off or they will be taken away,” Tokayoshi. “I would keep everything that you make. One thing I’ve found to be true is that if you use a planner … and if you can keep everything together, you’ll be better off.”

Potts said that students will continue to get support from teachers throughout the year and this three day program is only the start.

And if the data collected during the year shows good results it is possible Jump Start could become a recurring program each year at Kentwood.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s affording the school another opportunity to support kids academically.”

Reach Kris Hill at khill@covingtonreporter.com or (425)432-1209 ext. 5054.