Here’s what the Action Teams have been up to so far this year!
This was a HUGE three months for the Advocacy Action Team. The group testified in both the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives Education Committees to advocate for the recess equality bill. Check out the media below:
Articles about our efforts:
- FiveThirtyEight – “Recess Is Good For Kids. Why Don’t More States Require It?”
- Seattle Times – “Recess is a critical part of a child’s education”
We are VERY hopeful that we will have some good news about the status of our recess bill soon.
Please make sure you keep an eye out via email and stay tuned to the recessforwa.org website for updates.
We kicked off the Outdoor Recreation Action Team during this time period and have met with the group twice. We have discussed the overall plan for the year and looked at the feedback from our October 2022 convening where we discussed shared challenges and possible ideas for collective action.
Our current collective action themes are:
- Transportation
- Targeted, improved resources to increase knowledge about safety and how to access the outdoors
- Region or Statewide Landscape/Data Collection
If you’re interested in joining the Outdoor Action Team or learning more, email playkc@uw.edu.
The YAT members are continuing to build out, review, and adjust recommendations for their research project.
We will begin to integrate some brainstorming around dissemination and how different presentation approaches will be effective in sharing out our work. At the same time, facilitators of the YAT and the new and upcoming Shared Learning Action Team are at the initial stages of collaboration planning – we just had our first meeting!
We are exploring what a partnership focused on racial equity looks like between a youth leadership group and an adult shared learning group. As we step into this collaborative, we are excited to experience, and learn how we can incorporate this youth to adult learning relationship in future work. Continue to follow our work to find out!
If you haven’t yet, learn more about the YAT members on our blog!
We are about to kick off our second cohort of the Shared Learning Action Team and you’re invited to join! Those of you who were at our last meeting heard from the last cohort about their work on gender equity. This cohort will be focused on racial equity and increasing and improving programming for youth of color.
Summary
- 10-organization cohort
- 9 month project timeline (March – December) and commitment from 2 members of organization
- Each org will be stipended to participate ($3,000), with potentially some extra for repeating orgs who can help mentor new organizations
- Each member will undertake an organizational assessment to guide the creation of an implementation plan
- 4-6 shared learning meet ups focused on inclusionary practices for kids, coaches, and the org. based on the interest and needs of the group
An extra special component of this cohort is that the work will be, in part, guided by the Youth Action Team, which has been studying the topic of creating inclusion for youth of color in predominantly and historically white sports. They will help advise on the creation of an assessment tool, and they will guide our learning for at least one session.
Contact us at playkc@uw.edu to learn more or inquire about joining!
After the great success of the You Got Next Basketball festivals over the summer, the BEAT is focused on providing coach and program support for its members.
As part of this leave behind investment phase of the Basketball Equity Action Team, 10 middle schools and 8 high schools throughout South and East King County are receiving a stipend to support underserved basketball programs.
The investments are being used to help provide new equipment and uniforms, and help build coaching capacity. Efforts are targeted to increase participation and retention of students on school basketball teams, with specific attention being paid to the girls basketball teams.
The Facility Action Team is on hiatus until April 2023.
In the interim, check out the park observation tool, System for Observing Play & Recreation in Communities (SOPARC).