playworks

As we head into AmeriCorps Appreciation Week where we recognize, celebrate, and thank our members for their hard work and accomplishments throughout the year, it is humbling to remember to take a step back and review some of our favorite memories from the past. Our members are thrown into an exciting, yet daunting, gauntlet at…

June marks the end of our fifth year of service in North Carolina. This year Playworks provided healthy, meaningful play to more than 18,000 kids, every day! In Playworks schools, recess is as an opportunity to reduce bullying, provide more time for classroom teaching, and increase physical activity. Through the years, Playworks North Carolina has developed a reputation for quality, results…

Playworks is proud to be a recipient of the 2015 Top-Rated Award by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews about nonprofit organizations. “We are excited to be named a Top-Rated 2015 Nonprofit,” says Jill Vialet, Playworks’ CEO and Founder, “The Top-Rated Nonprofit award was based on the large number of positive reviews that Playworks…

We had a great amount of interest in the Junior Coach Leadership Program at my school this year, which made it easy to select 15 students to participate. I try to make sure to not just choose students who are well-behaved and make good grades. To me, a potentially great team is one that consists of children…

When the returning AmeriCorps members told how much growth we would see in the kids that we will be working with this year, I believed them. I could see the pride and joy these coaches had as they shared stories of complete transformations from out-of-control children to valuable members of their playground community. What I…

Kids—and administrators—embrace organized fun of Playworks  BY CORBIE HILL 12/22/14  It’s a cold day in Durham, and Cristal Simon’s fourth-grade class at Glenn Elementary is coming to the close of a science lesson. The kids are sitting around their tables when Ashley Morie—Coach A, as everyone here calls her—enters the classroom and brings recess to…

  One of my favorite components of the Playworks program is the youth developmental sports leagues. It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with students, help them develop confidence, watch them grow as athletes, team members, and as members of their community. At the start of the new school year, I was very excited to…

Playworks North Carolina is excited to have expanded to Charlotte through ‘Playworks Training.’ Playworks will provide expert professional development to adult educators at 26 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Elementary Schools to create a more active, inclusive, and positive school environment for more than 18,600 children. Charlotte-Mecklenburg received a PEP Grant for Physical Activity Leaders (PALs) to facilitate an…

Playworks North Carolina is proud to announce that we have been awarded the AmeriCorps State Formula grant for the 2014-2015 school year by the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service! Thanks to this grant, 15 of our 21 Program Coordinators will be participating in a “year of service” with Playworks through the AmeriCorps…