Members of the Binghamton University Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program (JUMP) stopped by East Middle School on October 29 to drop off a special surprise – school supplies, including bookbags and other school essentials, for around 30 students.
The school supplies donated to East Middle School were the result of recent fundraising and donation efforts by JUMP and other campus organizations during a weeklong event featuring bake sales, a bowling night, a s’mores night, and more.
“Some students don’t have parents to buy them things or don’t have people to support them and getting them school supplies… Basically to just be a support for both the students and the faculty,” said Madyson Rodriguez, a sophomore at Binghamton University and member of JUMP.
JUMP, which was founded in 1991, is a student-run organization with an overall goal of working with at-risk high school students, locally and regionally, to help increase student involvement in higher education. One main way they work toward this goal is through “JUMP Weekend”.
During JUMP Weekend, students from throughout New York City, as well as from here in the Binghamton area, are invited to travel to Binghamton University’s campus and for a four-day, all expenses paid time of interactive forums and workshops. The students, or “protégés” as JUMP calls them, are paired with mentors from Binghamton University with the aim of forming relationships the protégés can carry with them as they continue high school, and hopefully, as they pursue higher education. Every protégé is provided tools that seek to help them overcome any obstacle in their life that may hold them back from the goal of enrolling in college.
JUMP also holds its annual leadership conference on campus for Binghamton High School students to help them get a feel for the BU campus and to learn more about the university. This year’s leadership conference is scheduled for Saturday, November 12.