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New Orleans Playmakers

A Playmaker is an advocate for play and Playworks in New Orleans schools. A Playmaker can be a coach, a schoolteacher, a principal, a volunteer, etc.

 

May 2012:

Coach Hakim

Coach Hakim is an AmeriCorps Member serving as a Program Coordinator or ‘Coach’ at Murray Henderson on the West Bank. Coach Hak runs an exciting program that gets kids moving and working together in positive ways. Coach Hak has especially shined in his After-School Program, working closely with his school, students and their parents/guardians to get the permissions necessary to take the After-School Program kids on field trips to museums in the French Quarter or to volunteer with the Playworks NOLA crew on a service Saturday.
 
The work that Coach Hakim does is making a huge difference in the lives of the students he works with and we are grateful to have him as a part of the Playworks NOLA team. 

April 2012:

League Supporters

It means so much to us to have the community behind us, and for Playworks NOLA, it's extra-special. We've  received great support for our  leagues and want to acknowledge the many folks who make it happen.
 
Parents, friends,  guardians, school staff and others from each of our partner schools are there to support us at every single game. It is only because of their generous support that we can have leagues and activities that the kids treasure so much. Some schools have hired busses or vans to drive the kids to games, and parents almost always make sure that they get their kids to the games -- even after a long day of work.
 
Our spectators understand from the get-go the Rules of the Game (respect the game, play hard, and have fun), and cheer on ALL of our teams - not just the ones they came to support.
 
One parent, Miss Audrey, even made gift bags for all of the kids in the league. Without the support of parents like Miss Audrey, we wouldn’t be able to pull off such great events each week.
 
So thank you, NOLA community. You are our Playmakers of the Month! 

 

February 2012:

Coach Kendra
Coach Kendra brings play to New Orleans students every day in partnership with Akili Academy in Gentilly. Kendra brings boundless energy to the programming at Akili and to office trainings and meetings. Playworks NOLA is proud to have someone who cares as deeply as Kendra does about the quality of her work on the team. Kendra’s creativity is invaluable to Playworks NOLA as she is always thinking of the best possible to solutions to any problems that may arise and is always willing to work cooperatively with staff and co-workers to develop the best practices to be implemented into Playworks NOLA Partner Schools. From the Program Staff: Thanks Coach Kendra for everything that you do to provide healthy play and healthy community in New Orleans! 

January 2012:

Loyola New Orleans Office of Service Learning
Each school semester, Playworks NOLA Program Associate recruits volunteers from Loyola’s Office of Service Learning at the Serve Fair held twice annually. Through this partnership, Playworks NOLA has recruited several hard working and service minded volunteers to go into our partner schools and advocate for play every day.

Director of LOYNO Service Learning Department, Kelly Brotzman, had this to say about our partnership: 

“Playworks is among more than 30 community partners we work with to provide students with real-world hands-on community-based learning experiences.

We think Playworks offers a wonderful niche for our students who are interested in physical activity and healthy play as a way of teaching kids about teamwork, leadership and cooperation.  There aren’t many other partner agencies where a kickball game can offer a student a window for learning about child development or group dynamics, but at Playworks it can!” 

December 2011:
Shawn Doughty
Shawn is a volunteer who helps with recess facilitation every week at one of our partner schools, Akili Academy. Shawn is from  New Orleans and now lives in She is a junior at Loyola University in New Orleans majoring in Economics and minoring in Accounting. She went to Loyola because of the service enthusiasm coupled with world class professors. She had a service learning class my freshman year and have done mostly projects since then.. She is  a Cardoner Fellow, a leadership and service based scholarship program and is also chair of the Student Leadership Advisory Board (S-LAB), which works with the Office of Service Learning. 

When asked, why, of all places she sought out Playworks NOLA to volunteer her time with, she had this to say:

"I chose to work with Playworks because of its unique vision. There are
organizations that focus on tutoring and college prep, but I'd never heard
of 'play' as the mission” 

Thank you Shawn, for all of the work that you do to contribute to our programming in New Orleans!

November 2011:
Coach Gabrielle
Coach Gab has been a great addition to the 2011-2012 Corps of Coaches in New Orleans schools. She is an experienced basketball player and coach and brings her wealth of knowledge to the playground every day. Using connections made during her time as a player she was able to get a Louisiana University to donate basketballs to the school she works at in order to help strengthen her program. Over the past month at her partner school, Coach Gab has built a rapport with the students she serves. We are so excited to be able to work with her and see the results of her own hard work. Thank you for everything you do Coach Gab!

October 2011:
Gregory DeRosa
Coach Greg has been bringing his experience and energy to each of the Playworks NOLA schools throughout the past month. A veteran PE Coach and a champion of Play, Greg has made connections with students in Playworks NOLA schools in a very short amount of time. Indeed, he is being recognized while out and about in New Orleans by the students he's worked with, all stopping to ask him when he will be back in their school. We want to thank Coach Greg for his enthusiasm for his job and we can't wait to see more from him throughout the year.

August 2011:
Dana Greenup
Dana Greenup is our new Program Director. Dana has served as the Assistant Director of Ashe' Cultural Arts Center's Kuumba Art Institute, a creative and perfomance art program in Central City and as the Operations Director for Save Our Schools NOLA.
 
As the Program Director, Dana will be taking the lead in ensuring that Playworks New Orleans achieves its goal of bringing meaningful and inclusive play to kids in schools. As a graduate of New Orleans Public Schools, she is most excited about the opportunity to help grow the Playworks program within New Orleans, increasing opportunities for healthy play for the city's children.

June 2011:
Chelsea Reid
Chelsea is an AmeriCorps Program Coordinator who started last year as a "flex" (floating between schools). Mid-year, Chelsea was given the chance to run programming at Moton Charter School. She made huge strides at bringing play to Moton and continues to make an impact every day. We are so proud to work and serve with Coach Chelsea and can't wait to see what she does next! 

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