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When I started high school nearly 25 years ago, it was intimidating to be a freshman playing a fall sport.
One person I vividly remember as welcoming, though, was AJ Jump, who was just two grades above me and a leader on the soccer team as the goalie.
Fast forward two decades later and AJ is still a leader, but in the community.
Last week, AJ reached out to tell me about Tunes for Tots: A Concert to Support the Creation of a Sensory Room for Luzerne County Head Start. AJ and a small group of community advocates have chosen Head Start as their project for Leadership Northeast’s Core Class of 2024.
Tunes for Tots brought together local musicians Bret Alexander, Nyke Van Wyke, Gracie Jane Sinclair, Justin Mazer, Joe Burke & Co., and Jump, who performed for a standing-room only crowd at the River Street Jazz Café.
I’m so happy I was able to make it to hear the music and the details of the group’s mission, which is to create a sensory room for young children at Luzerne County Head Start’s Beekman Street Center in Wilkes-Barre.
My friend Chelsey Coslett is also part of this group, so it was great to catch up with her and hear her comments as well.
She shared that the group liked supporting the sensory room because the room will serve as a prototype for future sensory rooms at Head Start’s other locations throughout Luzerne and Wyoming counties.
“Thus, our project will not only be put to good use well into the future, but it is also the beginning of a great initiative at Head Start,” she said. She added that any child who attends Head Start’s Beekman Street Center will be able to use the sensory room as a calming environment.
“Most people think that only children on the autism spectrum use sensory rooms, but they benefit all children,” she said.
Members of this Leadership Northeast class are: Chelsey Coslett, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC); Michele Duris, Step-by-Step, Inc.; Amy Hoyt, Building Blocks Learning Center; AJ Jump, the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts; Chris Mayerski, Wilkes University; Jaclyn Reisser, Mobiniti; and Rebecca Thomas, Empower.
Some additional details:
To donate, you can refer to the Amazon Wish List by visiting https://bit.ly/3Sw06kt or make a monetary donation via check. Please make all checks payable to Leadership Northeast with “Head Start Heroes” written on the memo line, and mail to Leadership Northeast, 4 Public Sq., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701-1901.
A letter and tax receipt will be provided for all eligible donations. Head Start Heroes would like to receive all donations by mid-April, as the group will be working at the Luzerne County Head Start Beekman Street Center throughout the month to complete the build out of the sensory room. Tentatively, the room will be completed by early May 2024.
Mike McGinley is a Times Leader columnist who is often called a man about town. Email him thoughts at mikejmcginley@gmail.com.