OUR COMMUNITY

A

t Hillel Day School, a partner-
ship with Playworks is redefin-
ing recess.
Playworks, a national nonprofit with 
a Michigan chapter, works with schools 
like Hillel to design play opportunities 
during recess, lunch and/or after school. 
The goal: to teach kids skills for life, such 
as leadership and conflict resolution, 
while making physical and mental health 
a priority.
After a successful partnership at Farber 
Hebrew Day School, Playworks extended 
its program to Hillel, which launched the 
beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
“The program that we have there is 
called ‘TeamUp,
’” Playworks Michigan 
director Whitney Bunn explains. “That’s 
where a Playworks coach acts as a con-
sultant and goes into the school one week 
every month for the entire school year, 
and they’re facilitating recess.
”
While at Hillel, Playworks’ coach 
Allison Schulte, the school’s liaison with the nonprofit, works in part-
nership with both Hillel and Playworks staff to help ensure the school 
has a playful and positive environment where play and having fun 
become an important part of the agenda.

Even on weeks when Schulte is off site, 
the work continues. “She works with a 
recess team or group of teachers to train 
them so that when she’s not present, 
they’re able to continue the program and 
keep learning,
” Bunn says. “The goal is 
that our program will be totally sustain-
able without a Playworks staff member.
”

WHAT A PLAYWORKS 
RECESS LOOKS LIKE
So, what exactly is a Playworks program? 
It depends on each particular school or 
classroom. In Hillel’s case, COVID-19 
protocols keep kids within their own 
classrooms so that they’re playing, learn-
ing and interacting with the same group 
throughout the school day.
“The way that a recess typically 
works at a Playworks school is that 
[kids] will head outside and line up 
and we’ll go through a quick 30-sec-
ond intro of what’s going on the play-
ground today,” Bunn says. Each recess includes different stations 
and games set up for kids where they’re encouraged to play freely 
without any structure.
“We believe there should be a lot of options and opportunities on the 

New Program 
on the 
Playground 

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

38 | FEBRUARY 10 • 2022 

Partnership between 
Hillel Day School and 
Playworks redefines recess

A Playworks indoor 
recess due to the cold.

Students engage in fun activities 
indoors when the weather 
 prevents outside play.

