Civically Engaged Leader 2920 Group at Salt Lake Community College teams up with Playworks, a national nonprofit organization, and Student Leaders in Civic Engagement (SLICE) for the 5k Run for Recess fundraiser at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
“This is honestly a great cause,” says Ada Kamez, SLICE member. “Our kids are the future of this nation and through organized play, we [all those involve with the 5k run] can bring out the power in every kid.”
Playworks started the 5k Run for Recess as a service project. Sean Crossland, Thayne Center’s Community Partnerships’s coordinator, had the idea to involve students in planning the event wth the help of SLICE and Civically Engaged Leader 2920 Group.
“I hope the 5k will raise a lot of money for Playworks,” says SLCC student Ali Arvizu, Civically Engaged Leader 2920 Group member. “I think the 5k will bring the community closer because we’ll all be coming out for the same reasons and supporting a cause that benefits the community as a whole.”
According to the official Playworks website, Playworks’ goal is for every kid to take the positive experience earned on the playground back to the classroom, back to the learning and back to their communities, to raise awareness of the importance of play. The organization ensures recess can create a place for every kid on the playground.
“Recess is not just play time,” says Kamez. “It is creativity time, problem-solving time, social-skills time and team-work time.”
Playworks says that recess gives children the opportunity to determine how to be accepted by their peers—in a way that establishes who they will be once they have entered adulthood.
“We need runners,” says Kamez. SLCC students can get involved/sign up at the official Playworks website. The 5k Run for Recess will take place on March 15 at 9 a.m. on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
“I hope that not only we raise enough money to help bring this service to another elementary [school] in Utah but also raise awareness in every person that attends,” says Kamez. “So they [the participants] can realize how important safe and organized play is in elementary schools.”