According to Coach Amber, an AmeriCorps member and Playworks program coordinator at the Lee Academy Pilot School in Dorchester, "every day is a...
Letting kids play pays off
The Power of Play
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Please direct media inquiries to:
Cindy Wilson
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Tamara Murray
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From The Field
Playworks served with Habitat For Humanity on the National Day of Service to help repaint houses and build a fence around an East Oakland low-...
The Baltimore Sun
03/02/2010
Dajah Jones' bead-accented braids sprayed through the air as she fell to the ground after colliding with Harlem Park School classmate Dorion Cook. The two sixth graders were among a dozen students playing a complex running game called Jedi Mind Reader during a recess period in the school's gymnasium.
A concerned Dorion immediately ran over to Dajah and extended a hand to help her to her feet. The two chuckled as they ran into place to play again.
Although Harlem Park does not offer physical education classes, students are receiving about 30 minutes of physical activity during the school day through Playworks, an Oakland, Calif.-based company that provides structured recess programs that emphasize good sportsmanship in low-income schools in 10 cities.
"We're stopping the chaos at recess time," said Jessica Kohnen Karaska, Baltimore's executive director of Playworks. "We're driving positive behavior. And we are accelerating learning."
