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"That’s what this school needs! A smilin’ face and someone to play with these kids!”
~ Lunch Lady, Chicago

And that’s just what Playworks brought, from Jackson Mississippi to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Salt Lake City, Utah to Albuquerque, New Mexico …. Dispatching a team of nearly 100 staff and coaches over a combined total of 216,316 miles, Recess Roll-Out 2011 was one for the record books. This past spring, Playworks brought our trademark play and energy to 72 schools in nine cities across the country. The goal of Recess Roll-Out is to give potential expansion cities an opportunity to experience Playworks first-hand in their low-income schools. This is the third and final year of the program.

 
For the full five days, over seven weeks, our coaches worked with the students and teachers to demonstrate the impact a fun and inclusive recess can have on classroom learning and school climate. The coaches ran recess, identified junior coaches, worked with teachers for class game time, and made a positive impact everywhere they went.  Here’s a small sample of what the teams experienced:
 
Abuquerque: 9 schools, 3937 students
"Wow. The kids are actually playing GAMES at recess. With cones? There were NO fights today." Principal
 
Chicago: 9 schools, 4674 students
"I saw something at recess I've never seen before today! 
A kid was running and knocked another student down. Usually in that situation the child will stand over the other kid and tell him to 'Stay down punk', but today he actually helped the child up and asked if he was ok! The presence of Playworks is already having an effect. You better believe I'll be citing this example at the staff meeting tonight! We need Playworks here"    ~  Teacher
 
Cincinnati, Ohio: 8 schools, 4130 students
"You know, I am old school so I was thinking, how are you going to teach students how to play with each other? Then I saw Coach Joe, and after ten minutes, he had the kids' attention and playing games. What a great program!"  School secretary
 
Durham, North Carolina: 6 schools, 2590 students
"You can make things right if you play rock, paper scissors." Second grader
 
Jackson, Mississippi: 9 schools, 3756 students
"Respect takes years to earn but you got it from our students in record time! Now I feel like we will have a calmer and safer school next year!" School counselor
 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 7 schools, 2887 students
"I had no kids in my office with recess issues. You transformed our school in just two days." Principal
 
 
Oklahoma City: 6 schools, 2622 students
"I'm so glad you are here, the kids really need a chance to get out and play and they are learning how to play" Teacher
 
Phoenix, Arizona: 8 schools, 5729 students
“During Pac Man Tag at recess today, a 3rd grader runs up to me and says "Coach, this is better than the video game!" Playworks coach
 
Salt Lake City, Utah: 9 schools, 4941 students
"I can't believe I'm watching them solve their own problems!!" Second grade teacher