Coach Hoops’ Story From the Playground

  1. Updates

Skai Thompson, “Coach Hoops” at 52nd Street Elementary School, LAUSD says,

“I have a 3rd grader in a special learning class. He was always just really angry and when his buttons were pushed and he was triggered, he was a tornado through the playground—benches flipped over, trash cans kicked over. There wasn’t too much emotional development happening. His teacher came up to me and said, ‘You know, the student had an issue in the classroom, and he’s the one who suggested doing ro-sham-bo to figure it out.’ Then occasionally he’ll be on the playground and he’ll be the one stopping the altercations or the confrontations, or helping me in relaying the rules. I think it’s beautiful to see the kids begin to understand their own emotions and be able to regulate them when simple confrontations happen, where it doesn’t have to be a fight. We don’t need to waste time at recess. We just need to play ro-sham-bo and get it over with. I’ve seen that growth in him.”

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