Imagine a 7-year-old child – say his name is Oscar. As a smaller, shy boy, there’s one thing he hates at school more than anything – recess. That’s when the bullies seek him out. He doesn’t know how to play any of the games, and no one invites or teaches him to play. Oscar’s teacher knows he’s afraid of recess, because he starts tuning her out during class as he spends time thinking about how best to escape the bullies. The teacher also sees the effects as she gathers kids back to class, because the negative energy from conflicts at recess takes time to dissipate before classroom learning can resume. This is a real story from too many schools … until Playworks comes in.
Playworks transforms the schoolyard by placing a full-time coach at a school to teach kids how to play together, be inclusive and resolve conflicts through the rock/paper/scissors game. The results are amazing: as bullying decreases, students feel safer and healthier, and students return to class ready to learn. Kids like Oscar are playing the games like everyone else, feeling safer and included. Teachers credit the program with improved behavior and faster transitions to learning time.
To Chuck Warshaver, executive director of Playworks Arizona, transforming recess can give kids the same inclusive playtime he experienced as a child growing up in Schenectady, NY. “When I was a kid, we were taught how to play by the older kids,” the 53-year-old Warshaver says. “They would teach us how to play kickball, dodge ball, basketball, handball and all the different games … The culture was, you’d go outside and play all day long, and then at recess at school, you’d know the games.” Warshaver went on to play basketball and tennis in high school and tennis in college. That experience in sports, along with his Jewish faith, helped shape his belief in inclusiveness. His family belonged to synagogues when they lived in Schenectady, where the Jewish population was small, and when they moved to Boston, where the Jewish population was larger.
At Williams College in Massachusetts, he was again in the minority but didn’t feel singled out. “Never in my life did I experience any negativity about being Jewish,” Warshaver says, though he knows others who have. “I grew up in a lot of diversity, and it was really inclusive, so that’s the culture that I’m used to.”
After graduation, Warshaver joined his family’s mattress manufacturing business. When the family sold the business and Warshaver’s non-compete agreement expired, he cofounded World Sleep Products in 1992. While running World Sleep Products, though, Warshaver’s belief in inclusiveness was tested. Workers in his mattress factory came from a variety of ethnicities, and they weren’t getting along. Warshaver remembered a trip led by Combined Jewish Philanthropies that he and other Jewish community leaders had taken to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. – and the moving speech and discussion that followed at their dinner that night. He turned to the Anti-Defamation League for help and spent more than $30,000 to replicate the trip for his employees. His workers came out of the museum crying, Warshaver says.
At lunch, an ADL speaker reminded them that if Adolph Hitler had had his way, none of them would be there. “The speaker was so powerful and moving,” Warshaver says. “When you start thinking you’re the superior and someone’s telling you, ‘This is what reality would have been, you’re all in this together,’ it makes a big difference.”
When the group returned to work, Warshaver says, the old issues of exclusion and superiority were gone. Years later, employees were still talking about the experience. The economic downturn of 2008 pared World Sleep’s
customer base, and Warshaver and his partners sold the company in 2010. As he and his wife Shari prepared to retire, they decided to leave the Northeast for better weather and a place where Shari could meet other former Midwesterners. They visited Arizona in August, bought a home in Scottsdale and settled in.
Warshaver didn’t intend to go back to work. He began mentoring entrepreneurs through SCORE (a business mentoring group) and other programs. He got involved in the same groups he had been involved in back East, including Special Olympics, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the ADL. Key words for all those organizations included: antibullying, inclusion, under-served children.
In 2012 Warshaver received an email from the networking website LinkedIn that Playworks Arizona was looking for an executive director. It fit his passion for mentoring and sports as a way to teach young people social skills and citizenship. “The more I looked into it, the more I really liked what they were doing and how comprehensive it was,” he says. He connected to Playworks’ founder Jill Vialet, who urged him to apply, and Warshaver was hired in July 2012.
Playworks Arizona operated then in seven schools with 4,000 students. It will be expanding to 14 schools with more than 10,000 students by January 2014, and Warshaver’s goal for the next academic year is 24 schools with 15,000 students or more. The pace of growth is rapid, just like a start-up, and Warshaver says his role as executive director is to build the brand and raise funds.
“The kids we serve are the poorest of poor,” Warshaver says. “When we come in, we create a high-five culture. We tell them, ‘good job,’ ‘nice try,’ and they start feeling good about themselves. It’s really amazing to see a kid who doesn’t feel good about himself transform into someone who has self-respect and empathy.”
Playworks is the nation’s only nonprofit organization to send trained, full-time coaches to low-income, urban schools. The coaches introduce classic games like kickball and new games designed to build leadership and foster teamwork. Nationally, the Oakland, CA-based organization serves more than 300,000 children in 300 low-income schools in 23 regions across the country. Studies back the benefits of Playworks. A national study by Stanford University and Mathematica Policy Research found that teachers in Playworks schools reported an average of 43% less bullying and exclusionary behavior and an average of 20% greater feelings of safety among students compared to teachers at similar schools without Playworks programs. Teachers in Playworks schools also said it took them 34% less time to shift from recess to learning compared to teachers in schools without Playworks.
A survey of teachers and administrators from the seven metro Phoenix schools with Playworks during the 2012-2013 school year credits the program with a 90% reduction in disciplinary incidents compared to before Playworks began at their school, a 68% increase in academic success and 16 hours of recovered teaching time.
Playworks Arizona’s supporters include Chompie’s New York Style Deli, a family-owned eatery with four locations in metro Phoenix. The Borenstein family, which owns Chompie’s, visited schools and was overwhelmed by Playworks’ success in reducing bullying and increasing teacher time.
“I’m very passionate about this because I was bullied a lot when I was in school. I was a heavy kid, and I dreaded getting on the bus every morning,” says Neal Borenstein, co-owner of Chompie’s. “Playworks bringing this kind of stuff into the schools, where kids can feel as one, is very important.” Chompie’s and Playworks have created a children’s menu to teach sharing, inclusion and conflict resolution. Chompie’s also makes a donation to Playworks for purchases from the new menu and of Chompie’s water bottles. The first donation for sales through late October totaled $11,282 in cash and in-kind donations, and Chompie’s plans to make donations regularly. Nathan Hoffman, president and CEO of Live 3V and a member of Chabad of Chandler, is a member of Playworks’ Leadership Council. He believes the program has multiple community benefits.
“The principles and lessons learned through Playworks go far beyond the playground,” says Hoffman. “Teaching these kids to lead, collaborate and work together will benefit them personally as well as the community as they eventually become adults within the workforce.
“As adults, we can learn a lot from Playworks as well,” wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch and a member of Or Chadash synagogue in Scottsdale, also serves on the Leadership Council. He notes that the energy Chuck brings to the organization is contagious.
“I’m not the first person that was told that I needed to meet Chuck,” says Spector. “The passion and enthusiasm Chuck displays towards Playworks makes you want attend recess and see the program in action. Once you see it, you’re completely hooked, because it’s easy to recognize the positive impact it creates within schools and in the lives of so many kids.” Warshaver the businessman knows he needs to balance Playworks’ Arizona’s growth with funding, and the organization can use sponsors and help for upcoming events. It costs approximately $60,000 to place a full-time coach in one school for a year. The school pays $23,500 of that, and Playworks must raise the remaining funds.
This spring Playworks will hold two of its biggest fundraising events. On Feb. 21, Playworks hosts its 2nd annual Corporate Kickball Tournament featuring 32 teams (there are still some team spots available). The organization hosts its Run the Runway event April 5. The 5K is held on the runway of the Scottsdale Airport. A full list of upcoming events or information on how to get involved can be viewed at playworks.org/arizona.
“The bottom line for me is, I am ‘all in’ because I believe what we’re doing is making a huge difference,” Warshaver says. “I don’t care who you are, just come out and see our recess in action, you’ll be amazed and inspired – Game On!”
Josh Weiss contributed to this story.
