Video Library

Portland Trail Blazers President Larry Miller has been named the country’s Most Playful CEO in a nationwide search for inventive leaders who incorporate play and innovation into the work environment to encourage collaboration and teamwork. Miller joined the Trail Blazers in 2007, moving to the organization after 10 years at Nike, where he was responsible for the…

Misha Simmonds of University Heights Charter School in Newark, NJ, has been honored as Playworks’ Most Valuable Principal. University Heights students at the school describe him as “silly, a great player, a good teacher and above all else, fun.”  In addition to his outstanding mentorship and communications with the Playworks staff, Mr. Simmonds plays with the kids…

Ann Nguyen, a first-year coach and AmeriCorps member from San Jose’s Santee Elementary was named 2010 Rookie of the Year earlier this year for her leadership and example. Among her many contributions, Ann created Santee’s Got Talent, a fundraiser to help the fifth graders attend a science camp. She organized every aspect of the event. She supervised daily rehearsals, developed the soundtrack,…

Ashoka Fellow Jill Vialet, founder of Playworks, gave a wonderful talk recently at TEDxSF about creativity, play and Everyone a Changemaker™.

Playworks Founder and President Jill talks about the organization’s goal of reaching a million kids a day and why, after 13 years as Sports4Kids, it’s changing its name to Playworks.

For many elementary school principals, recess is the toughest part of the day. That’s when all the trouble starts — the teasing, fighting, bullying, injuries, referrals and suspensions. This video demonstrates the “before and after” effect when safe, fun playtime is introduced in the schoolyard. A trained Playworks coach teaches and runs games designed to…

For many elementary school principals, recess is the toughest part of the day. That’s when all the trouble starts — the teasing, fighting, bullying, injuries, referrals, and suspensions. It doesn’t just end there—the problems from the playground spill over into the classroom, eating into precious instruction time. This video demonstrates the “before and after” effect when…

Maynard Webb, chairman, and CEO of LiveOps, a Santa Clara, CA, high-tech company, was named as the Playworks’ Most Playful CEO earlier this year, taking the honors after a national search for a chief who truly valued play in the workplace. Heading one of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley, Maynard is a strong advocate…

Playworks AmeriCorps member Sean Tate from Abramson Science and Technology Charter School in New Orleans was honored as the 2009 Get in the Game Rookie of the Year at a special diner awards ceremony in San Francisco earlier this year. In the midst of a serious and stressful post-Katrina mentality, a modular campus with no dedicated recess space and…