This year Playworks voted for Atoi Sinclair from Siefert Elementary School here in Wisconsin as the Rookie of the Year! Within three weeks of Coach Atoi’s arrival, Siefert’s principal shared her hopes of becoming one of Playworks’ highest performing programs. Fortunately for her, and for Siefert’s students, Coach Atoi was up to the task. Atoi’s intuitive decisions in selecting junior coaches whose leadership skills were not immediately apparent, and her ability to create an innovative and inspiring playground experience, led to a successful program where children gained confidence and became more excited about recess. At a school where in the past no one showed up for league nights, Siefert now has the highest attendance of any school in the city.
A youth sports coach for five years before coming to Playworks, Atoi holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Child Development from Kaplan University, Davenport, where she has continued her studies as a graduate student. Coach Atoi, along with Executive Director, Kristina Olkowski, traveled to San Francisco earlier this month for the Playworks Get in the Game event where Coach Atoi was presented the Rookie of the Year award. It was an amazing evening and an honor to travel to California to support Coach Atoi on such a memorable evening, Kristina shared. “I speak for our entire team here at Playworks Wisconsin on how proud we are of Coach Atoi and the amazing work she’s done for the children and staff at Siefert Elementary,” said Kristina Olkowski.
