Jill Vialet's blog

Gratitude. That’s what we feel for the many supporters that have helped Playworks reach into underserved communities and bring play and physical activity to the local schools. We’ve been so fortunate to have so many supporters, individuals who really care, make it possible for children to have the opportunity to play every day. 
 
Earlier this month, at least 39,271 members of 24 Hour Fitness clubs stepped, ran, pumped and jumped in to raise more than $77,000 to support Playworks during a special three week “Help Save Play” promotion at the clubs.

This week the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service is being hosted in NYC by the Points of Light Foundation and the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Service is an important part of Playworks’ direct service program – next year 160 of our 270 schools will be staffed by AmeriCorps members (we’re accepting applications for coaches

These next couple of weeks will mark the end of the 2009-10 school year. And while most of us will remember summer as a time of long days filled with outdoor play, a 2007 study found that nowadays kids were more likely to be sedentary during summer vacation than during the school year.

But this summer, 24 Hour Fitness is partnering with Playworks to make a difference.

A friend of mine made the observation the other day that almost all the criticisms of our approach begin with some version of “When I was young…” I think she’s right.  People fondly remember play and recess  – the halcyon days of youth, unencumbered by pressures and constraints of adulthood.   I’m not knocking nostalgia wholesale, but our memories don’t tend to be all that accurate, reflecting specific incidents more often than the general state of things, as columnist Steve Duin so ably points out in his column on recess and Play

Wow, Dr. Phil has noticed us! His blog today, “Playtime is Over?” asks some good questions and while he expresses some skepticism and doubt about the role of recess coaches, he ultimately (albeit unwittingly) does a great job of making an argument for Playworks.
 
Dr. Phil writes: In my childhood, when we played kick ball at recess, we used an old Buick in front of Old Lady Jerkin’s house as our home plate. There were no gigs of memory, no schedule and no field.

I thought I’d employ the blog to share a little love today. Our programs, schools and services have grown exponentially over the past few years. And so has the number of people we need to keep serving them.

"This is not about inches or pounds, and it's not about how our children look.  This is about how our children feel."  ~ First Lady Michelle Obama announcing Let's Move, the new initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation
 
After numerous flight delays and in the largest snowstorm in Washington, D.C. history, I was lucky enough to be at the White House on Tuesday when the First Lady spoke these words.

In the past 14 years at Playworks, I’ve talked with lots of principals. Hundreds of them, easily.

They’ve told me how a good recess positively affects the school climate and makes it easier for students to focus and learn. But they’ve also told me stories about what happens when recess goes awry: that it can become a tipping point — in the wrong direction — for the entire school day.

Most people haven’t had the benefit of hearing what principals think about recess, until now.

Last week there was a blog in the New York Times: Play, Then Eat: Shifts May Bring Gains at School.   It was a great piece that outlined the simple, but still less common practice of having kids go out for recess before lunch.  The basic idea is that having recess before lunch ensures that kids really sit down and focus at their meals.  It makes a lot of sense that kids who have just exercised are going to be more interested in sitting down to their meal.&nb

Recently I was asked to speak at the TEDx Conference in San Francisco on the role of play and creativity. The theme of my talk was based on a quote by George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him. The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself.