KEYS students and sisters, Natania and Jayna Jaramillo, regularly volunteer to help with kindergarten students. The 11th-grade Banning residents assist with reading, math, and social studies. Natania explained, “I help the kids stay on track with what they are supposed to be doing, while the teacher does ‘teacher time.’”
Jayna added, “I help watch the kids if the teacher needs to step out of the classroom. I do crafts, help with homework, clean up the classroom and grade papers.”
Natania is 17 years old. She began volunteering two years ago, as “I’ve always had a passion for teaching kids. I started helping with the kindergarten class, and I fell in love with it.”
She says she finds it rewarding, especially when the students begin to understand the material they are studying.
Jayna, 15, also finds it rewarding. She said, “The teacher always tells me and my sister how much she appreciates and loves us; I just love helping her.”
This is Natania’s first year with Springs. She chose KEYS, she said, because she thought it would better help her prepare for college. Outside of school, she swims competitively, watches movies, cooks and participates in her church youth group. She hopes to go to college after she graduates Springs and become a kindergarten teacher.
This is also Jayna’s first year with Springs. She, too, likes to swim, as well as work with clay, play piano, learn to speak French and make videos. Upon graduation, she plans to enlist in the U.S. Air Force.
