Junior Coach Jacelia is a 4th grade student at the Mattahant School in Mattapan with Coach Akeem. Jacelia is a born leader and promotes healthy play at her school by ensuring all students are having fun at recess and in her classroom. She loves beginning recess with attention getters for students to get excited about recess and giving countdowns at the end of recess for students to transition back to class. Jacelia has embraced her role as a student leader at the Mattahunt and is always looking to help other students.
During the month of December, Jacelia created a new plan during a Junior Coach training about encountering challenging behaviors at recess and how to solve problems. She created a notebook for Junior Coaches to use that would have names of students experiencing a difficult time staying engaged at recess. She wanted her team of Junior Coaches to try and befriend these students to encourage positive behaviors. During recess, she spends her time talking with these students and engaging them in games. Thanks to Jacelia's leadership, Coach Akeem has noticed a decrease in bullying behaviors at recess as all students are working to include everyone in games. The Mattahunt and Playworks community appreciate Jacelia for her incredible display of empathy and kindness towards others. We look forward to seeing him continue to grow as a student, leader, and Junior Coach.
