According to Coach Amber, an AmeriCorps member and Playworks program coordinator at The Lee Academy Pilot School in Dorchester, "every day is a story."
Take a couple weeks ago: Coach Amber was teaching her students to play Switch, one of our core games, in Class Game Time (when we spend an hour or so in an individual classroom to teach students and teachers new games and activities). That's when Mrs. Brown, the second grade class's teacher, (who also served in AmeriCorps!) asked her students what kind of angle makes up the Switch court. Instantly, one student yelled out, "Wait, that's a right angle!"
What followed? The whole line of students started cheering and chanting, "Right angles! Right angles! Right angles!"
At this point, Mrs. Brown, who usually mantains her composure during Class Game Time, got so excited that she cheered at the crowd, "Yeah! That's right!" causing her students to cheer even louder!
"As silly as this story sounds, it's a perfect example of how outdoor play can really contribute to learning within the classroom," explains Coach Amber. "This is what Playworks does. An ordinary game of Switch was all it took, and I guarentee that every one of those students will remember what a right angle is. And this will make Mrs. Brown very, very happy."
"Mrs. Brown is excited about Playworks, I'm excited about Playworks, and the only thing my students are more excited about than Playworks is right angles. And that is something worth getting excited about."
