This year has been an unprecedented one for Playworks and there is much to be proud of. From exceeding our goal of serving 450,000 kids nationwide to expanding our operations into the Georgia region, there have been many big wins for play, but here are our top five.
This year we significantly increased our partnership with AmeriCorps. Since 2004, Playworks has partnered with AmeriCorps to engage adults in intensive community service work with the goal of “helping others and meeting critical needs in the community.” To date, Playworks has been awarded 262 members to serve as coaches in elementary schools across the country.
This fall, Laureus Sport for Good Foundation proudly announced its commitment to Playworks, supporting five Playworks regions across the country: Texas, Michigan, Arizona, Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest. Laureus and Playworks will work together to actively promote the extraordinary capacity of play and sport to improve lives — teaching kids leadership and creative-thinking skills in the most engaging way, making collaboration a baseline for success, and improving kids’ physical health. Read more.
In September, Jill Vialet, Playworks CEO and founder, shared with hundreds of healthcare, academic, and nonprofit professionals at TEDMED what you already know: that play is necessary for developing engaged citizens. “Our collective well-being…is dependent upon opportunities for play being allowed and encouraged to flourish equitably,” Vialet shared. Watch the talk.
The following month, Playworks Northern California was named a winner of an online grant competition hosted by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers. The Building Vibrant Communities: Activating Empathy to Create Change challenge sought local initiatives that tap the power of empathy to strengthen communities and equip young people to become leaders of change. Playworks Northern California will receive $100,000 to support its work in Silicon Valley schools to activate empathy among the future leaders of our community. Read more.
In addition, we secured our first district contracts. School districts in Southern California, the San Francisco East Bay area, and Utah made a commitment to ensuring every elementary school child in their district will have access to safe and healthy play everyday. These districts are demonstrating, on a broad scale, their commitment to supporting the power of play now and in the future.
It was a good year for play indeed.
