{"id":1959,"date":"2019-01-23T13:35:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T21:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/southern-california\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2019-01-23T13:41:09","modified_gmt":"2019-01-23T21:41:09","slug":"from-skeptics-to-believers-the-magic-of-recess-reboot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/southern-california\/2019\/01\/23\/from-skeptics-to-believers-the-magic-of-recess-reboot\/","title":{"rendered":"From Skeptics to Believers: The Magic of Recess Reboot"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 4<\/span>th<\/span> grader who never smiled. A 5<\/span>th<\/span> grader who played kickball every recess but never allowed other kids to kick and run the bases. And two boys who got into fights constantly at recess.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those were just a few of the students who learned how to play well together by participating in Playworks\u2019 Recess Reboot at Weemes Elementary School. Weemes is located in South Los Angeles, blocks from the USC University Park campus. The USC Good Neighbors Grant Program sponsored a four-day Playworks Recess Reboot in December to teach its model of healthy and safe play. Although top administrators were excited about the chance to see Playworks\u2019 program in action, some other staff members weren\u2019t sure it could work given the challenges faced at the inner-city school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have someone come in\u2014 this preppy, positive, happy-go-lucky, jolly Playworks personality\u2014it can feel a little overwhelming, like, wait a second, listen here, Dorothy, you\u2019re not in Kansas,\u201d says Jessica Cornejo, the Playworks certified trainer who led the Recess Reboot at Weemes. \u201cSo, at first with the adults, there was some skepticism, like, what are you going to come in and teach us about our community? Not because I\u2019m not capable but because of the culture that was so embedded in the students on the playground.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the Recess Reboot, to keep order on the playground, Weemes kept classes divided into separate sections of the playground, so kids from different classes couldn\u2019t play together. The Playworks method changed that, with Jessica teaching recess team members how to facilitate positive, inclusive play so different classes could have fun together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even the most skeptical recess team members became believers when they saw kids transformed in ways they never expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were playing and having fun, smiles on their faces,\u201d says Trina Ortiz, a recess team member who\u2019s also the parent of a seven-year-old daughter at Weemes. \u201cThey weren\u2019t in sections where they couldn\u2019t play with their friends. So it was awesome. It opened a new door for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But what about the boy with a tough exterior who never smiled? After Jessica selected him to help demonstrate one of the games, he was a changed kid. \u201cI didn\u2019t know his history until the recess team shared that it was a major highlight for them,\u201d Jessica says. \u201cIt brought them so much joy that he was actually engaged. The smile is what they said. We\u2019d never seen him smile before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t alone. The boy who only played kickball loved the new Playworks games so much that he recruited other kids to play them and abandoned kickball for the week. As for the two boys who often fought at recess, they played peacefully with no problem, using Roshambo<\/a> to resolve any conflicts that arose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something else special happened during the Recess Reboot at Weemes, which Jessica says she\u2019s never witnessed before as a trainer. Traditionally, the Playworks trainer leads \u201cRecess 101\u201d where different games are demonstrated to the classes. But one of the recess team leaders stepped up and said she wanted to lead the first game. Then another team member volunteered for the second and another for the third, so Jessica was able to stay on the sidelines. At the end of the week, she says administrators were astonished not just by the changes in how students were playing but by changes in the adults who supervised recess. \u201c[The principal] noted the change in the adults present on the playground\u2014the way they were engaged and empowered\u2014and they were empowering the students, and they were really taking ownership over the recess and playing an active role in facilitating different games, helping students resolve any minor conflicts that might have come up, and just being a lot more positive and more present.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Recess Reboot happened right before Weemes went on winter break for three weeks. But in the week following the break, Weemes\u2019 assistant principal, Mercedes Pineda, says she noticed kids practicing skills they\u2019d learned during the Reboot, demonstrating good sportsmanship by saying \u201cgood job\/nice try,\u201d giving high fives, and using Roshambo to negotiate ties. She\u2019s working to ensure the new systems are maintained because the benefits are so powerful. \u201cIt\u2019s a way of empowering the kids and engaging the kids. So when the kids are engaged and they\u2019re involved and there\u2019s a structure out there, it empowers them to be able to play the games correctly and to be able to talk and give their opinions, so it\u2019s pretty cool to see how that\u2019s developing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Ortiz, the recess team member, is looking forward to the next time Jessica visits as part of the Good Neighbors grant. \u201cI\u2019m up for more challenges. Let\u2019s learn some more games.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Recess Reboot at Weemes Elementary School is part of the USC Good Neighbors Grant Program funded by university employee contributions to support the university-community partnership.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sponsored by USC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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