At P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights, 'Playworks' Aims to Make Recess a Time to Learn, Too

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — It may sound like a recipe for trouble: during recess, put fourth graders in charge of kindergarten students.

But on Wednesday morning at P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights, everything went according to plan. The fourth graders wore purple shirts labeling them as a "Playworks Junior Coach." One kept things under control on the jungle gym. Another, named Shawn Jones, helped a kindergarten student with a stuck zipper, while supervising children coloring the school's playground with chalk. Logan Sheldrake-Hernandez played soccer with a third group. When a whistle blew calling recess to a close, everyone ran to their assigned lines quickly, and went back inside the school without incident.

This is how things are supposed to work, explained Tashan Kilkenny, 26. Kilkenny is a program manager for Playworks, a national organization founded in 1996 by Jill Vialet that aims to transform school recess from "the most chaotic period of the school day," as the group puts it, to something fun, structured, and focused on reinforcing positive values like cooperation and mutual support.

Tashan Kilkenny

Kilkenny grew up in East Flatbush, and spent time in high school working as a counselor at summer programs. After college, he entered AmeriCorps, which paid for him to start as a Playworks coach at P.S. 9.

It was a school with a lot of diversity, he said, as well as one lacking male teachers that could serve as role models for boys.

Kilkenny supervises about 10 schools, each of which has a Playworks coach. The coach is a cross between "a guidance counselor and a gym teacher," Kilkenny said, someone who can help get kids where they need to be, as well as a person who is "a constant adult figure they trust."

But the coach's primary responsibility is to teach children, and help lead them in, the suite of games in the Playworks Playbook, which Kilkenny said are designed to "bring out the best in every child."

Many of the games, which Playworks makes freely available, would be familiar to nearly anyone, but they've often been given a twist designed to re-enforce specific values.

Kilkenny said one of his favorite games is called "Evolution," a variant of "Rocks, Paper, Scissors" in which everyone starts as an "egg" before winners "evolve" into something new — for example, a dinosaur. Students keep facing off against those in their category and evolving before they reach a final stage — a Superhero, for example — at which point they return to being an egg. What it means in practice is that everyone mixes and keeps playing with each other .

Logan Sheldrake-Hernandez

Playworks coaches supervise recess periods where the games are played, with the help of the junior coaches they've recruited from the student body. At P.S. 9, that includes a morning recess period before 8 a.m., which Kilkenny says encourages kids to be on time for school, and another period later in the day.

Marquis Bethel is the coach this year at P.S. 9. His AmeriCorps salary is being paid by the Toy Industry Association, which has partnered with Playworks to support the program's work.

Bethel spent some of his time Wednesday supervising a relay race, then played goalie while a line of children took shots against him. During unstructured recess periods, he said, "people tend to stick with their friends only." But organized games bring kids off the sidelines, as well as into contact with new people, he said.

Marquis Bethel plays a soccer game with students

Logan Sheldrake-Hernandez, one of the fourth grade junior coaches, said he likes his role because he "helps kids cooperate and stay safe." (He was also repeatedly spoken for by an extremely enthusiastic kindergarten student named Riley who said he planned on being a junior coach as well.)

And coach Shawn Jones said "you have to listen and pay attention in class to be good" at his job.

Shawn Jones

P.S. 9 is one of 1,200 schools where Playworks is operating around the country. Beyond anecdotal examples, the organization cites survey data showing its popularity among administrators and the program's positive impact on students.

There are 20 Playworks schools in New York and New Jersey, and in the organization's most recent annual survey, almost all said they want the program back next year. Administrators also said they've seen marked improvements in their students' ability to focus and cooperate, while bullying and time spent dealing with conflicts has reportedly decreased.

Back on P.S. 9's playground, Tashan Kilkenny said he sees students of different ages and skills playing together — and that, he continued, "helps to make the school bigger" for every child there.

Pictured at top: Tashan Kilkenny at P.S. 9. Photos by John V. Santore.