The Jumpstart Team
Meet the Jumpstart Team
Dylan Gschwind
Founder & Instructor
In May 2013, Dylan graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics from Pomona College in Southern California, ranked #4 in the U.S. News National Liberal Arts College Rankings. After spending the last four summers working with young children as a babysitter, summer camp counselor and tutor, he has developed an understanding of what makes them run and how to keep them motivated, confident, and happy. For the past three summers, Dylan has led youth wilderness trips in California and Europe for Overland Summers. He enjoyed the chance to expose these young children to the tranquility of a natural landscape and the intrinsic happiness that results from a challenge completed. He now works in Boston for an outdoor education program for Boston Public School students called the Intrepid Academy at Hale. He graduated from Bell School in 2005 and was accepted at Walter Payton College Prep.
Ten years ago, Dylan began developing the 7th Grade Jumpstart Camp, a unique experience for 7th grade students, and has helped over 325 Chicagoland students achieve their academic goals in a very challenging school year. He is passionate about education and psychology research and seeks to use evidence-based teaching practices to encourage strong executive function skills at a young age.
Erin Romo
Instructor
In 2011, Erin graduated with a Liberal Arts Degree from Denison University, having double-majored in Educational Studies and Psychology. After graduation, Erin served as a tutor and mentor to high school students on chicago's west side through an Americorps program, "City Year". After her year of service, she participated in a teaching certification program, "Chicago Teaching Fellows", with interest in becoming a special education teacher. Erin has been teaching in CPS for 3 years. She was hired at a turnaround elementary school on Chicago's southside and taught 1st-8th graders in both inclusion and self- contained settings. For the past two years, she has been a special education teacher at a full IB immersion high school working with 9th-11th grade hard-of-hearing students. She graduated from AG Bell School in 2003 and Walter Payton College Prep in 2007.
Chelsea Gschwind
Instructor
As a second year Jumpstart instructor, Chelsea Gschwind is excited to bring her educational background to the camp. Like her Jumpstart colleagues, Chelsea is also a proud CPS alumni. She graduated from Bell School in 2005 and from Walter Payton College Prep in 2009.
In 2013, Chelsea graduated from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Elementary Education. Throughout her undergraduate career she spent time student teaching in both lower and upper elementary grades. Chelsea recently graduated from Concordia University with a Master of Arts in Special Education in May 2018, during which she worked with students in all different grades with varying disabilities learning how to modify instruction to meet their individual needs.
Chelsea has been teaching for five years in a suburban elementary school in a 5th and 6th grade multiage classroom. Each year Chelsea has worked to prepare her students for the transition to junior high school through her knowledge of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.