Junior Coach Appreciation Day Honors Tomorrow’s Leaders

After a successful year of leadership training, Playworks’ junior coaches were honored and celebrated in a day-long event filled with food, fun and games at Longfellow Elementary School. Longfellow’s playground was quickly transformed into a whirlwind of excitement as more than 200 junior coaches celebrated the culmination of their training.  The flow of the day was guided by a Passport to Play – a commemorative booklet showcasing the different “stamps” children received as they rotated through various stations.  Games of four square, human bingo, toxic waste dump and more were played to build upon the junior coach curriculum of leadership, cooperation, respect, and healthy community. Assisting with the event was a team of more than 50 caring volunteers from Salesforce.com.  This group of volunteers provided the Junior Coaches with examples of positive role models, attesting to the importance of demonstrating leadership within one’s school, community and personal life.   By equipping children with the skills to mediate conflict resolution and the ability to be positive, engaging role models within their communities, our junior coach program is a successful tool to combat bullying while encouraging inclusive behavior.  This contributes to a school free of gender, race and income barriers, thereby creating a successful learning environment conducive to improving the social, physical and emotional health of children.