Kisha

Kisha is a female koala character who first appeared in JumpStart Preschool (1995).

In many of her appearances, she is depicted as a koala, but she has also been depicted as a tiger in the JumpStart World series.

In the past, she was often a mascot character for JumpStart's Preschool media, alongside Eleanor, Casey and Pierre (see also: Preschool Gang).

Appearance
Kisha was originally depicted as a koala with grayish brown fur and brown eyes. She wore a pink hat with a red band and a yellow flower. In JumpStart Pre-K, she had a similar appearance, except her fur was gray.

In JumpStart Preschool (1998), Kisha is depicted as a koala with brown fur and wears a shirt and cap which are both navy blue with yellow stars and circles.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, Kisha is depicted as a koala with light gray fur. She wears a pink beret, a white shirt with paint splotches on it, and purple sandals. At this point, she was the smallest member of the main cast of characters (excluding Edison), according to herself in JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade: Fundamentals.

In the JumpStart World series, Kisha is depicted as a tiger. She has orange yellow fur with dark brown stripes and a large brown tuft of fur on her head. She has three forms, one for preschool and kindergarten, one for first grade, and one for second grade. Her preschool/kindergarten form is small, with two round pigtails, light purple tinted glasses, a white and light purple dress with pale purple spots on the skirt part (though in some 2D art, they're either pink or not visible), and a pink band around her waist. Her first grade form is taller and skinnier with short straight pigtails, and pink arm warmers and leg warmers, and a thicker band around her belly, and her glasses have a purple rim. Her second grade form has slightly longer pigtails with red hairbands, and wears a purple and pink dress with a green gem on the stomach area, and purple arm warmers and leg warmers which each have a green gem as well and the rim of her glasses are almost pink.

In the JumpStart Academy series, Kisha is depicted as a koala. She has gray fur, brown irises, and a black nose. She wears a pink beret, a pink and white striped sleeveless dress with a pink pocket near the bottom, and pink shorts.

Personality and Characteristics
At least since the late nineties, Kisha has been depicted as creative and highly artistic, and especially fond of painting.

A biography for Kisha on the old Knowledge Adventure site pertaining to her appearance in JumpStart Preschool (1995) stated that her parents are from Australia, her favorite hobby is climbing, her favorite food is eucalyptus leaf sandwiches, and her favorite school subject is computer class.

In JumpStart Preschool (1998), Kisha was depicted as being calm, sensible, and somewhat particular. She was often annoyed by Casey's antics, and preferred peace and quiet.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, Kisha's JumpStart All-Stars learning style is 'The Artist'. The HTML manuals for the JumpStart Advanced series says, "Kisha teaches children using her visual-spatial learning style. She uses pictures and visualization techniques to explain concepts." A now-defunct online version of the JumpStart All Stars described Kisha as being a sage and philosopher as well as an artist.

In the JumpStart World series, she is depicted as being athletic and strong-willed, while still maintaining an interest in art. The JumpStart Blog says, "Kisha may be all athlete from her tail to her paws, but everything she does she does with style. She trains hard and runs fast, but she’s always willing to slow down and admire your artwork!"

Kisha's profile in JumpStart World says, "Kisha is the fastest runner in Camp. She loves to race. Kisha also loves to paint. Kisha says, 'Painting is always more fun with a friend!' Kisha and CJ are best friends."

In World of JumpStart, Frankie describes Kisha as being "the neighborhood spitfire", and says that "there isn't anything she can't do once she puts her mind to it." Kisha also describes herself as a fashion guru in this game, and says that "there's no reason you shouldn't look your best at all times".

In the JumpStart Academy series, Kisha is once again depicted as being very passionate about art, and seemingly lacks the athletic qualities her World series depiction had.

JumpStart Preschool (1995)
Kisha is one of the main characters. She hosts the Notepad and Bulletin Board activities, is also present at the Sign-in Screen. She also appears in the "I've Been Working on the Railroad" song sequence in the Nursery Song Book activity, and makes a cameo appearance in the Doll House activity.

JumpStart Pre-K (1996)
Kisha is one of the main characters. She hosts the Bakery, Diner and Toy Shop activities.

JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island (1996)
Kisha makes a cameo appearance in the woods.

JumpStart Preschool (1998)
Kisha is one of the main characters. She hosts the Toy Box, Player Piano, Easel, and Blocks activities. She has her own easel where she paints pictures, and she also has a collection of toy blocks.

JumpStart ABC's (1999)
Kisha hosts the Train Station activity.

JumpStart Phonics (1999)
Kisha is a camper at Camp Readalot. She hosts the Totem Pole activity.

JumpStart Around the World (2000)
Kisha is one of the player's travel buddies in the preschool version.

JumpStart Artist (2000)
Kisha is the main character and mascot of this game. The player visits different locations at an art fair she hosts to collect pieces for her art-themed rides. Anytime a ride is completed, she rides that during a certain ride song.

JumpStart Languages (2001)
Kisha is associated with Hiroshi in the Japanese Pavilion. She translates what Hiroshi says if the player clicks on her, whether it comes to reading stories, where Hiroshi says the flag is during challenge mode, or asks for an article of clothing for the puppet (again in challenge mode).

JumpStart Explorers (2001)
Kisha appears once on each of the rainy day craft pages.

JumpStart Wildlife Safari: Field Trip (2001)
Kisha is a playable character alongside Frankie. The two are seeking to find and save Casey, who is lost in a wild animal park.

JumpStart Advanced Preschool: Fundamentals
Kisha mainly appears in the Magic Chalk and Animal Mask activities. In Magic Chalk, Kisha will draw a picture on the chalkboard, and the the player must find the letter that begins the name of the object she drew. In Animal Mask, Kisha tells the player how to create a mask.

Kisha is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select her as their partner and call her for help.

JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten: Fundamentals
Kisha is one of the main characters and one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select her as their partner and call her for help.

JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade: Fundamentals
The player can visit Kisha at her house and play two activities there: Kisha's Music Studio and Kisha's Paint Studio.

Kisha is one of seven characters who can be selected to be the player's racing avatar and she has her own power-up, gadget, trick, and track. Her power-up is the Magic Paint Tube, her gadget is the Rainbow Bridge Painter, and her trick is the Paint Pits. Her track is lined by paint tubes, and the surrounding areas have various art supplies.

Kisha is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select her as their partner and call her for help.

JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade: Fundamentals
Kisha is an agent at JumpStart Headquarters, though she never formally appears in the main game.

Kisha is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select her as their partner and call her for help.

JumpStart Sing-Along Time (2003)
Kisha has a cameo appearance in the intro song.

JumpStart Pet Rescue (2009)
Kisha is one of the main characters and local residents.

JumpStart Crazy Karts (2011)
Kisha is one of the playable characters.

World of JumpStart (2009-2023)
Kisha appears in one of the missions given to the player early on which involves meeting her and talking to her in DownTown. Afterwards, she doesn't appear there. She also appears as one of the default residents of the player's Neighborhood, where the player can visit her at her house and talk to her by clicking on her.

Kisha also previously appeared in the StoryLand area in the game, prior to its movement to JumpStart Junior.

JumpStart Academy Math (2018)
Kisha appears as one of the possible avatars for the player to use in the game. She is unlocked when the player reaches level 8, and can be purchased for 800 coins.

JumpStart Academy Preschool/JumpStart Academy Kindergarten (2019)
Kisha is a main cast character who helps guide the player through the game.

In Online Activities
Circa 2000, Kisha appeared in the Fort Frosty activity hosted in the JumpStartville section of JumpStart's website. In this activity, the player can place pictures of Kisha and the other Preschool Gang characters on top of a background.

Circa 2002, Kisha appeared in a "JumpStart Learning Styles Quiz", an online version of the JumpStart All-Stars quiz hosted on the JumpStart website.

Kisha also appeared as a playable character in Belly Bounce, which was hosted on the Knowledge Adventure website since around 2010.

In Videos
Kisha is a main character in JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?.

Kisha has a couple cameos in JumpStart Kindergarten: Why Did the Bus Stop?. In one scene, she can briefly be seen at the JumpStart Train Station. In another scene, she is briefly seen looking at Casey stuck in a tree with concern.

Kisha is a main character in the interactive DVD JumpStart PreK-1st Grade: Frankie's Field Trip. She is one of the passengers aboard the bus that Frankie drives. In the Corn Maze activity, the viewer must guide Kisha through a corn field by using a DVD remote.

In Books
Kisha appears in all of the Scholastic Pre-K workbooks and Pre-K Readers, as well as some other Readers.

Kisha also appears in some of the Reading Readiness Readers released in 2005. She is the main character of the books Kisha's Big Job and Kisha Likes To Paint.

Toys
In 2000, Briarpatch released JumpStart Alphabet Card Game, which features Kisha on some of the cards. That same year, Briarpatch also released JumpStart Color and Shape Card Game. Kisha appears on special shape cards.

Quotes

 * "I'm Kisha. I love colors, shapes, textures, pictures - in fact, I think pictures are better than words." - Self introduction from the JumpStart Advanced series
 * "You must see all the pictures I've painted!" - JumpStart Preschool (1998)
 * "I have to be careful around Casey, because sometimes he knocks over my paints." - JumpStart Preschool (1998)
 * "Hi, I'm Kisha! You might say I'm a colorful person…because I love to color!" - JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten
 * "Hi. I'm Kisha. And you won't believe what I got in here: all the makings of an art fair!" - JumpStart Artist

Trivia

 * Kisha's name was occasionally spelled as Keisha in some promotional material for JumpStart Preschool (1995).
 * The JumpStart Blog hosted a poll in December of 2009 asking parents who their child's favorite character was. Kisha ranked first on this poll with 26.74% of votes.
 * Kisha is one of two main characters to have changed species in the World series reboot, the other being Pierre.
 * In the JumpStart Academy series, Kisha's kindergartner design from the World series is reused for a different character named Tiffany.

Gallery
See Kisha/Gallery