Volunteer Spotlight – Jake’s volunteer experience inspired him to take action! 

Jake Kingsbury started volunteering at GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix during his sophomore year in high school helping with group programs. In his junior year in high school, he became a Youth Board member.  Jake collaborated with other Youth Board members to provide group activities for the participants, as well as spread GiGi’s Acceptance Challenge to fellow students in his high school.  He helped collect supplies and fundraise to support purposeful programs at GiGi’s Playhouse. 

After he graduated high school and went on to college, Jake continued to volunteer at the Virtual Playhouse as a tutor in the one-on-one Math Program.  Both of his students were new to our program when Jake started working with them.  He created engaging activities, so his students wanted to work with him every day as their math skills started increasing significantly!   

Jake encouraged and challenged his students to give their “Best of All” at each lesson.  Jake modeled and shared his “Best of All” weekly, as he became a better tutor, too. 

As a senior at Barrett Honors College at University of Arizona, Jake is asking for our help!  He was so inspired by his volunteer work at GiGi’s Playhouse he decided to make Down syndrome the focus of his dissertation.   

Please see this request from Jake: 

Are you a parent or guardian of a child with Down syndrome? If you answered “yes”, you are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Arizona State University! You will be asked to participate in a short survey that should take no more than 15 minutes of your time. Participation is voluntary and completely anonymous. The research is being conducted by Jake Kingsbury under the guidance of Professor Mary McMullen and Dr. Teresa Hart. Our research is targeted at establishing if there are specific demographic characteristics that influence a parent or guardian’s perception of their child’s diagnosis with a focus on how that may change as the child ages. If you would like to participate, please click HERE.  You must be 18 years or older to fill out the survey.