Cape Cod Playmaker Spreading Ripples of Joy

“Teachers start off gung-ho and then they get bogged down by all the requirements they have to fill and all of the things they have to remember to complete,” says Terri Rivera, a Playmaker and 20-year preschool teacher at The Barnstable Early Learning Center on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. “Before they know it, all of their dreams of changing lives get thrown out the window.” Terri knows that feeling all too well because three years ago she was “feeling burned out and stressed” in her work. That’s when she discovered the Life is good Playmakers and attended her first training. She returned home feeling excited and ready to bring more of her playful self into her classroom. “There was just this igniting within me after that training,” she said, “Like I could take off.”

Like a rocket, Terri has indeed taken off since then. She has been a huge advocate for the Playmakers, recruiting many of her co-workers and other child care professionals in the Cape Cod area to attend Playmaker trainings as well as attending additional trainings herself.  Even after long days that required all her energy and focus to be the best she can be with children, she still made the long trek from Hyannis to Boston several evenings over the next few months to attend monthly Booster trainings in Boston.  Boosters provide Playmakers opportunities to reconnect, share challenges and successes, as well as learn new activities and techniques to improve their work with children.

When Terri realized that the growing number of Playmakers she had recruited were not attending the Boston Boosters due to distance and busy work schedules, she decided to take the initiative to organize several local gatherings for members of her Cape Cod community to ensure that their commitment to transforming lives through playful, joyful, loving relationships would not waver. “My goal is to attract more and more people to the Playmaker movement,” she says. “There needs to be more laughter and more joyfulness in the classroom. I can’t imagine teachers working with children who don’t smile.”

Terri Rivera, left, and fellow award-winner Whitney Dubois with Director of Community Playmaking Ant Toombs and Director of Programming Emily Saul.

Terri’s inspiring example in the classroom and leadership outside the classroom were chief reasons why she was a co-winner of the 2012 Jesse Howes Award. The award commemorates the late founding Playmaker Jesse Howes and is given each year to a Playmaker who, like Jesse, shows, “A deep love for, and commitment to children, and an unquenchably playful spirit.”

Terri has seen the difference a joyful approach can make, especially for those, like “Anna,” whose childhoods are filled with difficulties.  Anna arrived at Terri’s classroom as an overweight child who spoke Spanish and understood no English. She lived with her mother and father in a very small attic apartment.  Anna’s days were filled with little play and no interactions with other children. Her transition to the classroom was difficult, and the language barrier contributed to her isolation. Fortunately, Terri speaks Spanish and was able to communicate with her, but since she could not communicate with the other children, the girl resorted to frequent pinching and hitting to gain the other children’s attention. Terri called upon her Playmaker training, drawing Anna in through a variety of group activities such as parachute play, “Newsball” and other games.  As a result, Anna has become much more engaged with the other children and now loves to share and play with them. Terri believes the active classroom and the love Anna now has for active play have contributed to her needed weight loss. Her desire to connect and participate has spurred her English development as well, and she is now beginning to converse in English with the other children. Socially, Anna’s approach with the others is now more playful, joyful and cooperative.

Successes like this have made Terri a passionate advocate for the Playmaker movement. She remains convinced that the approach benefits not only children, but teachers as well. She has taken the Playmaker mantra to heart, recognizing that, “you can’t spread what you don’t have” and that “nurturing one’s own joy and playfulness is essential to becoming an effective teacher in the long run.”  In addition to this, she has gained a deeper respect for the work she does. “I have felt so appreciated as a teacher since I started going to Playmaker trainings. I feel like I am doing something special in my life. A lot of teachers need to feel that too.” Thanks to Terri’s leadership, that’s just what many more do feel. It’s a ripple effect that is reaching a growing number of engaged, joyful and healthy children in the Cape Cod community.

The Bay Area Keeps It Playful

On July 15, we held our first Bay Area Community of Playfulness and invited all of the teachers who had participated in our 2009 and 2010 trainings. The teachers were excited to see each other again and to connect with teachers they had never met, and everyone brought delicious food to share. We were also thrilled to have Ant Skype in!

We started the group with a game of newsball and as each teacher spoke, we found that many of the centers were being faced with big budget cuts and layoffs and that morale among the staff was low. We all agreed that during times of crisis it is even more important to be aware of our own playfulness and to stay positive.  Ant shared that, “when one door closes another opens, and that this is the game of life and we are all playing to win”. The teachers were comforted by the fact that they were all going through similar hardships at their centers, but that the Community of Playfulness was created to provide a space for them to come together to support one another,and to play and have fun! We brainstormed ways to boost positivity at the centers, and decided that every few months we will hold an “open” Community of Playfulness and invite our families, friends and co-workers so that they too can feel supported and playful. We are confident that our growing group of Bay Area playmakers will become ambassadors of play and joy in our community.

Community of Playfulness Up and Running in Beantown!

The Playmakers of New England have been gathering for one evening a month at the PJ office in Boston since February 2010 for Community of Playfulness meetings. You might be asking yourself, “What is a Community of Playfulness anyway?” The term Community of Playfulness describes our community of PJ Playmakers. The goal of the meetings is to bring a group of Playmakers together on a regular basis to play, share ideas, and support each other as we spread playfulness throughout our communities, our classrooms and, most importantly, our homes. We believe that folks like us (who dedicate much of our lives to helping children deeply impacted by trauma) need a supportive community to help keep us passionate and strong. So once a month we get together to share some food, reconnect with others in the field, discuss our challenges and triumphs, and play some games together.

We laugh, we talk, and we play – it’s a joyous occasion. In case you don’t believe me, just take a look at the photo below taken at our last COP meeting on March 25^th.

Playmakers in attendance play a rousing game of “Parachute Surprise.”