“I need your eyes and ears,” Alexis Piper announces to 18 babbling, bouncing preschoolers. “And your mouths zipped.”

It’s 2:30 p.m. — circle time. The kids are defiant, the room a tornado of activity. The children glimpse the rare Seattle sun peeking through the window and know recess draws near. It’s impossible to keep from fidgeting.

“What about your nose?” one inquisitive child asks.

Now, it’s a competition.

“What about your eyebrow?” another adds, challenging the first.

And the classroom erupts into noise again, each child suggesting a different body part.

This preschool classroom at the Denise Louie Education Center is part of the Jumpstart program at the UW. Piper, a UW sophomore, is a team leader for the program, which connects undergraduate mentors with low-income students in an effort to prepare the kids for academic success.

“When [Jumpstart] was just launching, I thought it was a really dynamic program,” said senior site manager Ruby Linsao, who has been involved with Jumpstart at the UW since its 2003 inception. “It’s at both ends of the spectrum; kids who are just beginning their schooling and college students, who are at the other end.”

Jumpstart is a national non-profit organization based in Boston. The program at the UW, which is one of 74 across the United States, boasts about 90 corps members, the title given to student volunteers who devote their entire academic year to a classroom in one of five Head Start preschools.

Corps members are assigned a partner child, who they help learn letters, develop social skills and develop a love of reading.

Statistics reinforce Jumpstart’s mission.

“Low-income kids get less one-to-one reading time with adults, so they’re not as prepared,” Linsao explained. “When they enter schools unprepared, they stay behind.”

One-to-one reading is a critical aspect of early childhood education and one of three major elements of Jumpstart. The other two are circle time, when children gather to sing songs and play games, and choice time, when the entire classroom is opened up for play.

At the end of the school day, most college students are anxious to traipse home, indulge in a quick nap or procrastinate on homework. Jumpstart’s corps members, rather, are thrilled to enter a different kind of learning environment; an environment where picture books and snack time, instead of lectures and exams, characterize the curriculum.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s so different from the classroom settings in college,” Piper said. “It’s so refreshing.”

Once the kids settle down a bit, they scurry to stake out corps members’ laps, the prime seats during circle time. Piper leads the class in “The Moose Song,” a display complete with enthused chanting, wild hand motions and a set of moose antlers fashioned out of construction paper gamely donned by each child.

The silly song is replete with rhymes excellent for honing literacy skills. Even when the children are having fun, they are learning.

Before corps members are allowed to channel their inner preschooler through a game of make-believe or dress-up, they are required to complete 30 hours of training. Thirty additional hours will need to be logged before the end of the year.

“We talk about problem-solving with children, adult-child interactions and how to have a conversation about [books],” Linsao said.

The sessions also offer instruction on early childhood development, focusing on how children develop physically, cognitively and emotionally.

Kristy Hogue, Jumpstart’s volunteer coordinator, explained how sometimes students express an interest in Jumpstart but may not be able to dedicate an entire year to the program.

Because Jumpstart only accepts applications for corps members in September and October, individuals drawn to the program in the middle of the year need another service outlet.

That was the predicament Hogue found herself in after one year spent as a corps member.

“It was great to work with children and see them progress over the year,” Hogue said. “But some people can’t commit to a whole year. I applied for the position of volunteer coordinator, and this is my second year.”

Hogue’s job is to recruit outside volunteers who donate their time on a short-term basis. This year, those volunteers partnered with the First A.M.E. Child and Family Center to help disinfect toys, paint classrooms and organize teachers’ learning materials, Hogue said.

Each year, the Denise Louie Education Center also hosts a Children and Families Festival, coming up May 30, that is open to the Seattle community. Jumpstart corps members and volunteers plan five or six learning activity stations for the kids.

Involvement in Jumpstart has altered career plans for some students. While many corps members enter the program with the goal of becoming teachers, others often find themselves wanting to pursue teaching, even if their course of study is on an opposite academic pole.

“We’ve had people join their junior year and decide to change their major from biology to early child development,” Hogue said. “One senior changed and took a full summer quarter to complete the requirements.”

From the smiles on the kids’ faces, and the frowns that take their place when the clock signals their mentors’ departure, it’s more than apparent that Jumpstart succeeds in making a difference and leaving a memorable impression.

“When you’re around kids, their problems are so much simpler than ours,” Piper said. “It really puts things in perspective.”

Reach reporter Rachel Solomon at features@dailyuw.com.