Washington, D.C.

Last year I had a student, Clinton, who was pretty challenging. He had some attitude issues, and was constantly put on the fence by his teachers because of something he did in class or at lunch. He could be disrespectful to other kids, didn’t want to participate in games and was hard to get through to. He had some discipline problems, and I was sometimes asked to take him out of class to talk with him.

Brearn Wright Jr. remembers recess during his first year as principal of Clark Elementary School in Petworth as "like a MASH unit." "Recess time was the time the school nurse dreaded, because she knew she'd have so many kids waiting in the lobby" to be treated for injuries from fighting or falling, Wright said.

On April 13, Playworks in Washington, D.C. had the fantastic opportunity to show off the work we do at the White House Easter Egg Roll. Some 30,000 kids, parents and other dignitaries showed up for this year's event, and most of them made their way through the Playworks basketball and soccer stations.

Last year I had a student, Clinton, who was pretty challenging. He had some attitude issues, and was constantly put on the fence by his teachers because of something he did in class or at lunch. He could be disrespectful to other kids, didn’t want to participate in games and was hard to get through to. He had some discipline problems, and I was sometimes asked to take him out of class to talk with him.