Local business women team with Playworks

  1. Updates

Heidi Marchesotti, Highland Partners Real Estate and Ruth Stroup Insurance Agency are sponsoring a play ground clean-up and paint at Hillcrest school with the proceeds going to support Playworks coaches in local low-income elementary schools.
 
The Hillcrest community has a history of community engagement through the Hillcrest Helps Out campaign.  As a matter of fact, on October 22, the day before their playground clean-up, Hillcrest families will be helping Fruitvale Elementary school move and restage their library.  On Sunday, through the generous support of these two civic minded business leaders, Hillcrest is literally raising money to support Playworks coaches at 32 low-income schools while they paint their own playground.  It’s a win for everyone! 

The Hillcrest community appreciates the critical importance of safe, inclusive play so much so that they recently used PTA funds to hire a fully trained Ex-Playworks coach to facilitate Playworks-like inclusive active recesses and class game times for all grades.

A brightly painted playground is not only more engaging but it is safer.  Playworks’ expert play coaches strategically map out the playground to make sure, for example, that ball games aren’t running through the areas kids like to jump rope.  In this way, kids feel safer and there is less conflict.   When kids understand where to play each game and they can clearly see the zones and lines – there is less stress and less fighting over if a ball is “in” or “out”.  

The day starts with classic Playworks warm-up games that help volunteers can get to know each other and reminds them why play is so critically important to kids’ social and physical development.  Next, we hand out the brooms for a massive sweep and clean-up. After that, we tape the lines and finally we grab the brushes, rollers and line painters and start painting.  It will take about 5 hours and 80 gallons of paint to transform an average urban playground from grey and gravelly to bright and engaging!

At the end of the day the kids will have a new playground and the volunteers and sponsors will have satisfied grins and sore muscles!

Check out the entire playground's transformation on our Facebook

More Updates


January 12, 2023

Golden State Warriors Community Foundation & Salesforce partner with Playworks ›

We are grateful for our continued partnership with the Warriors Community Foundation and Salesforce during the 2022-2023 school year. With their support, Playworks Northern California has delivered safe and healthy play to over 41,200 elementary school children of promise this year! Check out this inspiring video showcasing our work together:      

A boy and girl holding basketballs on a playground.
A boy and girl holding basketballs on a playground.

November 16, 2022

2021-22 Annual Report ›

We are excited to share with you a look back at everything we accomplished in the 2021-2022 program year. It was a year focused on rebuilding after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and we are proud to share that we served 41,200 students in the Northern California Region.  We are thankful for your continued…

three people with Playworks shirts
three people with Playworks shirts

July 28, 2022

A year of social and emotional learning ›

“You can’t do SEL, trauma, or equity work without each other,” Jennette Claassen, Head of Evaluation, Playworks. As Playworks continued to progress on our equity journey, we explored a critical question: what are the intersections between play, social and emotional learning, physical activity, and trauma? A working group focused on this question decided, among other…