The Building Blocks for the Grant Avenue Elementary School Playground

This post comes to us from Bronx Health REACH public health intern, Diana Litsas.

Active Design is an exciting new approach to renovate spaces that encourages children in school to enjoy the physical, emotional, and social benefits of play and exercise¹. In an effort to increase physical activity, Bronx Health REACH uses Active Design in Schools to engage students and other non-profit organizations in developing a plan for children to be active and play. Each of these projects is unique, adapting to school needs of space and budget.

Bronx Health REACH (BHR) is excited to be working on an Active Design Project to create a more engaging play yard at Grant Avenue Elementary School. Currently the outdoor space is a barren, narrow strip of concrete—a play area that seems especially inadequate as it faces a full-functioning playground which belongs to a neighboring school (the other school is overcrowded as it is, and unable to share facilities with Grant Avenue). Grant Avenue’s planned solution is an Imagination Playground², which features movable pieces (“big blue blocks”) that allow for more dynamic and creative play compared to the fixed structures of a typical playground.

BHR joined a recent visit with Grant Avenue elementary school as they explored the Imagination Playground flagship in Burling Slip. Upon their arrival to the park, the students immediately began playing, despite the unfamiliar set of playground elements. These foam pieces encourage students to move in safe and creative ways, as they are made in a variety of shapes and sizes that give students versatility while they play with them². While some blocks can be carried, others are bigger than some students themselves! The students built large “house” structures, as they referred to them, or use the blocks as a place to sit and socialize. Some students even arranged two rectangular blocks to construct a seesaw! The pieces were made out of a hard foam material is durable enough to withstand outside elements while being soft enough for students to stay safe when they fell on them. Few students used the blocks by themselves; most preferred to collaborate with classmates while building.

It was clear that using the blocks necessitated communication and patience among students, as they had to share and negotiate the use of certain blocks. Teacher Diana Castillo expressed her confidence that the blocks would be well received at Grant Avenue Elementary School based on the limited space they require, and how much the kids enjoyed using them.

¹The Partnership for a Healthier New York City

²Imagination Playground

PS 311 Goes Platinum for Excellence in School Wellness

Left to right: Tima Faison, Benjamin Ferder, and Hannah Joseph are members of the PS 311 (Lucero Elementary School) School Wellness Council. 

This post was written by Victor Gidarisingh, Program Coordinator for the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities program.

PS 311 (Lucero Elementary School), has achieved the pinnacle of school wellness by creating a transformative health environment in their Bronx school. Seeing itself as more than a school, PS 311 recognizes that education institutions can also serve as a model for students and families in healthy eating, access to physical activity, and promoting a healthy lifestyle. For PS 311, the journey to platinum was an actualization of a vision that did not happen overnight. The process was gradual and began when former Physical Education teacher and current Physical Education Instruction Coach at PE Works, Ms. Cristina Muia, laid the foundation in 2014, when they received the gold award, then in 2015 gold plus, and now in 2016, platinum.

How did they achieve this? Newcomer and successor to Ms. Muia, PE Instructor Mr. Benjamin Ferder joined forces with Hannah Joseph, a FoodCorps Service Member and Tima Faison, a paraprofessional at the school. Hannah describes the winning formula this way, “We built from a foundation where everyone was passionate—individual’s passions came together and all members were able to bounce ideas off one another.” According to Mr. Ferder, “As a new teacher in school, I asked a lot of questions—I wanted to know what worked in the past. The continuity from years past inspired me to strive for platinum. While the three core members of Tima, Ben, and Hannah steered Lucero Elementary during the school year through their wellness council, their efforts were reinforced by the contributions of Principal Cuba, Parent Coordinator Ms. Lopez, and the students themselves who served as “wellness ambassadors.” They worked with Chef Kent to serve salad during lunch and model to their peers that lunch could be healthy, nutritious, and delicious. 

Like a team that had been built for a championship, PS 311 made their breakthrough in year 3 and proudly achieved platinum, the highest possible award from The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Excellence in School Wellness Award. PS 311 hopes to maintain their strong healthy school and community environment. Their goal for next year is to increase parent involvement—to make school wellness programs more “parent-friendly” and to inspire more teacher involvement by hosting professional developments for teachers geared at combining physical activity and stress reduction. PS 311, a flagship school in District 9, aims to inspire surrounding schools in the Morrisania neighborhood—to address health disparities and exemplify how schools can be a place of wellness.