Safe Routes Philly trains 11 Playworks Coaches

On Monday, February 21^st, Safe Routes Philly introduced our programming to eleven enthusiastic Playworks Coaches at their cheery Manayunk office. Playworks seeks to “improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.” They opened up an office serving Philadelphia schools in fall 2010. Playworks sends full time, trained “coaches” into low-income, urban schools. Their initiatives include organized play at recess, class game time, leadership development for older students, and after school tutoring and sports leagues.

The coaches received a full overview of Safe Routes Philly pedestrian and bicycle safety lessons. They will mainly utilize our Physical Education lessons, which are focused on hands-on learning for students. As a group, the coaches brainstormed how to adapt our lessons for their circumstances. Many ideas centered on including pedestrian and bicycle safety concepts into the games they currently play with the children. The majority of Playworks schools are located in Northwest and West Philadelphia, but they also serve schools in South Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion and Center-City.

We are excited to grow our partnership with Playworks to bring more Philadelphia youth safety lessons and encourage them to use active forms of transportation like biking and walking!

Information on Playworks was paraphrased from www.playworks.org/about