Play & Learn L.A., Scott McVarish President

EEGs show brain differences between poor and rich kids

"This is a wake-up call," Knight said. "It's not just that these kids are poor and more likely to have health problems, but they might actually not be getting full brain development from the relatively impoverished environment associated with low socioeconomic status: fewer books, less reading, fewer games, fewer visits to museums."

 

University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown for the first time that the brains of low-income children function differently from the brains of high-income kids. In a study recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, scientists at UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the School of Public Health report that normal 9- and 10-year-olds differing only in socioeconomic status have detectable differences in the response of their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is critical for problem solving and creativity.

Brain function was measured by means of an electroencephalograph (EEG) – basically, a cap fitted with electrodes to measure electrical activity in the brain –

Previous studies have shown a possible link between frontal lobe function and behavioral differences in children from low and high socioeconomic levels, but according to cognitive psychologist Mark Kishiyama, first author of the new paper, "those studies were only indirect measures of brain function and could not disentangle the effects of intelligence, language proficiency and other factors that tend to be associated with low socioeconomic status. Our study is the first with direct measure of brain activity where there is no issue of task complexity."

Co-author W. Thomas Boyce, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of public health who currently is the British Columbia Leadership Chair of Child Development at the University of British Columbia (UBC), is not surprised by the results. "We know kids growing up in resource-poor environments have more trouble with the kinds of behavioral control that the prefrontal cortex is involved in regulating. But the fact that we see functional differences in prefrontal cortex response in lower socioeconomic status kids is definitive."

Boyce, a pediatrician and developmental psychobiologist, heads a joint UC Berkeley/UBC research program called WINKS

– Wellness in Kids – that looks at how the disadvantages of growing up in low socioeconomic circumstances change children's basic neural development over the first several years of life.

"This is a wake-up call," Knight said. "It's not just that these kids are poor and more likely to have health problems, but they might actually not be getting full brain development from the stressful and relatively impoverished environment associated with low socioeconomic status: fewer books, less reading, fewer games, fewer visits to museums."

Kishiyama, Knight and Boyce suspect that the brain differences can be eliminated by proper training. They are collaborating with UC Berkeley neuroscientists who use games to improve the prefrontal cortex function, and thus the reasoning ability, of school-age children.

"It's not a life sentence," Knight emphasized. "We think that with proper intervention and training, you could get improvement in both behavioral and physiological indices."

Kishiyama, Knight, Boyce and their colleagues selected 26 children ages

9 and 10 from a group of children in the WINKS study. Half were from families with low incomes and half from families with high incomes. For each child, the researchers measured brain activity while he or she was engaged in a simple task: watching a sequence of triangles projected on a screen. The subjects were instructed to click a button when a slightly skewed triangle flashed on the screen.

The researchers were interested in the brain's very early response

– within as little as 200 milliseconds, or a fifth of a second – after a novel picture was flashed on the screen, such as a photo of a puppy or of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

"An EEG allows us to measure very fast brain responses with millisecond accuracy," Kishiyama said.

The researchers discovered a dramatic difference in the response of the prefrontal cortex not only when an unexpected image flashed on the screen, but also when children were merely watching the upright triangles waiting for a skewed triangle to appear. Those from low socioeconomic environments showed a lower response to the unexpected novel stimuli in the prefrontal cortex that was similar, Kishiyama said, to the response of people who have had a portion of their frontal lobe destroyed by a stroke.

"When paying attention to the triangles, the prefrontal cortex helps you process the visual stimuli better. And the prefrontal cortex is even more involved in detecting novelty, like the unexpected photographs," he said. But in both cases, "the low socioeconomic kids were not detecting or processing the visual stimuli as well. They were not getting that extra boost from the prefrontal cortex."

"These kids have no neural damage, no prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, no neurological damage," Kishiyama said. "Yet, the prefrontal cortex is not functioning as efficiently as it should be. This difference may manifest itself in problem solving and school performance."

The researchers suspect that stressful environments and cognitive impoverishment are to blame, since in animals, stress and environmental deprivation have been shown to affect the prefrontal cortex. UC Berkeley's Marian Diamond, professor emeritus of integrative biology, showed nearly 20 years ago in rats that enrichment thickens the cerebral cortex as it improves test performance. And as Boyce noted, previous studies have shown that children from poor families hear 30 million fewer words by the time they are four than do kids from middle-class families.

"In work that we and others have done, it really looks like something as simple and easily done as talking to your kids" can boost prefrontal cortex performance, Boyce said.

"We are certainly not blaming lower socioeconomic families for not talking to their kids

– there are probably a zillion reasons why that happens," he said. "But changing developmental outcomes might involve something as accessible as helping parents to understand that it is important that kids sit down to dinner with their parents, and that over the course of that dinner it would be good for there to be a conversation and people saying things to each other."

"The study is suggestive and a little bit frightening that environmental conditions have such a strong impact on brain development," said Silvia Bunge, UC Berkeley assistant professor of psychology who is leading the intervention studies on prefrontal cortex development in teenagers by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Boyce's UBC colleague, Adele Diamond, showed last year that 5- and 6-year-olds with impaired executive functioning, that is, poor problem solving and reasoning abilities, can improve their academic performance with the help of special activities, including dramatic play.

Bunge hopes that, with fMRI, she can show improvements in academic performance as a result of these games, actually boosting the activity of the prefrontal cortex.

"People have tried for a long time to train reasoning, largely unsuccessfully," Bunge said. "Our question is, 'Can we replicate these initial findings and at the same time give kids the tools to succeed?'"

Source: University of California - Berkeley <

http://www.berkeley.edu/>

Published: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 10:34 in Psychology & Sociology <http://esciencenews.com/topics/psychology.sociology>

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

What does Mr. Rogers say about play?

Download the_power_of_play.pdf

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Play & Learn L.A. Community Statement

Play & Learn L.A.’s Board of Directors are comprised of a number of community organizers. We believe in Play & Learn L.A. because it makes sense, not because we believe we can solve someone else’s problems. The Creed of Our Board of Directors is simple: Play & Learn L.A. will only survive & thrive if the community believes in it and invests in it.

We have certain skills and resources we can invest into Play & Learn L.A., but the success or failure of Play & Learn L.A. depends on the community. Every step along the way, Play & Learn L.A. will only move forward if interest and support for it in the community builds and can sustain this enterprise.

  

To that end, we are committed to the following:

1. Establishing a dialogue with community-based organizations in any neighborhood in which we can find a potential location for a Play & Learn L.A. site. Once an appropriate location is secured we will hold meetings with church groups, neighborhood associations, PTA’s, Boys & Girls Club, pediatricians and family doctors, existing community or activist groups, day care and pre-school operators and families, service groups and any other entity that has meetings of concerned citizens.

2. Inviting interested community members to join a Community Advisory Council, provide training to this Council, and then empower the Council to shape the creation and operation of the Play & Learn L.A. Center. The Community Advisory Council would be responsible for picking the Galleries from the Master Gallery & Design Book, shaping usage policies, engendering community involvement in the Center, establishing partnerships, and ensuring the Center meets the community’s needs and maintains a visionary approach to working with the community’s families.

3. Placing a member of the Community Advisory Committee onto the Play & Learn L.A. Board of Directors.

4. Joining with the Community to continually shape the vision and mission of Play & Learn L.A. as it adapts to the evolving and unique needs and opportunities of its host community.

5. Forming a Youth Advisory Committee to give local children a voice in the Play & Learn L.A. Center.

6. Promoting as much in-kind services, work and volunteerism in the community as possible and thus rely on the expertise, talent and people-power of our community.

7. Staffing the Play & Learn L.A. Center with as many qualified community members as possible and providing training for those who express great commitment to the Center and its goals but who may not yet have the requisite experience.

8. Believing that when the community has shaped Play & Learn L.A.’s vision and made it their own, they will invest in it. Accordingly, we will make individual donors and family memberships to the Center a key component of our fundraising development plan. We will gauge our success in the community by our ability to enlist these individual donors and family memberships.

                         Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Center Location and Financing

Presuming our social service agency partner does not have a current site that could be expanded to include a Play & Learn L.A. “Play Center,” then a site will have to be located, secured and funded. The most economically feasible option is to secure a government-owned facility. This could include Los Angeles City-owned property, an underutilized Parks and Recreation center, Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department property, Community Development Department-owned property or a closed or partially-closed public school building. Play & Learn L.A. is currently researching and pursuing these taxpayer-owned property possibilities:

· Most Los Angeles City-owned properties are occupied with non-profit organizations approved by the current or former local council person. The General Services Department of Los Angeles City is currently doing an audit on all City-owned property to ensure that the lessees are complying with all City regulations including non-profit status and serving a substantial good for the City’s residents. Note that not all City-owned properties are currently occupied and Play & Learn L.A. is meeting with Los Angeles City Council Offices in order to map out available properties.

· The City of L.A. has dozens of under-funded and under-utilized community centers (formally called Park and Recreation Centers) throughout South L.A. and East L.A. If supported by the local Council person, the Department of Parks and Recreation can enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with a non-profit community group for development and use of its centers. Funding can then be secured through a variety of means (See “Leverage for New Funds,” p. 16).

· According to the outgoing Director of the Cultural Affairs Department, there are many facilities in Los Angeles that can only be occupied by cultural non-profits. Play & Learn L.A. would fit this definition and we are attempting to access the information regarding such available properties.

· LAUSD has closed many schools within the past 15 years and it has dealt with declining enrollment in many parts of South Los Angeles. Play & Learn L.A. does not currently know the condition or availability of these properties but will begin meeting with LAUSD officials in November 2008 to gain a clearer understanding of this possible option. Note that many children’s museums throughout the country have been given excess school facilities for their use and adaptation. In fact, Kidspace Children’s Museums in Pasadena was housed at a Pasadena Unified school site from 1981-2002 until moving recently to its location by the Rose Bowl.

· In support of its mission, “Creating Jobs & Strengthening Families,” the Community Development Department recently helped develop and oversee $640,000 in partnership with the Jeffrey Foundation to open a Special Child and Family Resource Center in Fall 2008. Play & Learn L.A. will begin pursuing relationships in the Community Development Department in December 2008.

Other possibilities include being part of a multi-use redevelopment project or locating an empty retail space. Information on current redevelopment zones in the City of Los Angeles is available on request from Play & Learn L.A.

                                 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Partnership Agreements

Some win-win memorandums of understanding should be negotiated before any money is spent on this joint-endeavor, while others could be created at later stages in the process and as the need arises. Play & Learn L.A. will take responsibility for proposing the parameters of each of these proposed memorandums in order to facilitate the necessary dialogue. Possible memorandums of understanding would include but not be limited to:

(1)   Preoperational matters

a.       Process to secure the location. This would include an agreement on answers to such questions as:

                                                               i.      Which geographic zones would be appropriate as possible locations? Within those zones, how important is access to mass transportation and store-front visibility on heavily used street fares?

                                                             ii.      What is the range of building size we will look for? What type of facility configurations would be appropriate for the needs of each component of the Center and how will the space and costs be allocated?

                                                            iii.      For an existing building, what are the maximum costs to rehabilitate the building; how those decisions would be made jointly; what contractors would be used and what process to choose those contractors; and who would bear which percentage of costs on such improvements?

                                                           iv.      For new developments, what are the maximum costs to construct the building; what developers would be used and what process to choose those developers; how those decisions would be made jointly and who would bear which percentage of costs on such construction?

                                                             v.      Once the location is secured, how will the two components of the Center be configured?

b.      Pre-operation fundraising.  This would include an agreement on answers to such questions as:

                                                               i.      Which foundations, individual donors, corporations and government funds including redevelopment funding would we jointly-seek funding from and which, if any, would we individually seek funding from?

                                                             ii.      What percentage of the funds from sources listed above would go to each component of the Center?

                                                            iii.      Which organization would be responsible for each funding proposal; what administrative fees for that responsible organization would be segregated in addition to the agreed upon percentage of the funds for each organization?

(2)   Operational matters

a.       Branding: This would include answers to such questions:

                                                               i.      Will the Center be named “Play & Learn L.A.” and how will our respective organizations’ names be featured at the Center and in all publicity about the Center?

                                                             ii.      How will publicity for the Center and for our joint-effort be framed and what opportunities will we seek? How will we coordinate an aggressive publicity campaign for the Center and for our joint-efforts?

                                                            iii.      What type of community outreach will we do to ensure this project captures the public’s imagination and is known to our targeted users; who will be responsible for those efforts; how will decisions be made around these issues?

b.      Access to Center’s space and facilities. This would include answers to such questions:

                                                               i.      What hours/days will the Center be in operation?

                                                             ii.      What opportunities will Play & Learn L.A. have to use the multi-use spaces of the Agency to rent for birthdays and other events and how will the income from those events be divided? What opportunities will the users of the Agency’s programs have to use the galleries of Play & Learn L.A. for programs or play?

c.       Programming nexus. This would include answers to such questions:

                                                               i.      What are the range of services The Agency would offer? What would be their target age-groups and populations? What level of staffing would The Agency utilize at the Center?

                                                             ii.      What are the galleries that Play & Learn L.A. would install? What staffing patters would Play & Learn L.A. use in servicing the families that utilize the Play Center? What involvement will the community and The Agency have in choosing which galleries are installed and which staffing patterns are utilized?

d.      Insurance and other safety and liability issues. This would include answers to such questions:

                                                               i.      What security precautions will be taken for the Center’s contents, for its employees and for its users?

                                                             ii.      What trainings will staff be given in terms of safety practices and security measures? What role in and access to the Center will volunteers have and what measures will be taken to screen and train potential volunteers for either component of the Center?

                                                            iii.      What insurance will be purchased and how will the costs be apportioned?

Each organization could also considering placing and accepting a leader from their partner organization onto the other organization’s Board of Directors.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Galleries & Exhibits

 

Each Play & Learn L.A. Center has three sections. The first section will consist of a children and family area (Play Center) filled with engaging exhibits for children and their caretakers to play together in. The interactive exhibits will provoke a child’s imagination and inspire learning through active, developmental play.  This component will be akin to the interactive “Children’s Discovery Museums” found in more affluent areas. The second component will be multi-use rooms for parenting and early-education classes and social-service oriented programming. Third, each Center will host a revenue generating gift-shop at the entrance foyer.

The Galleries in the Play Center will create real-life experiences with authentic and detailed environments that will incorporate accessible and interactive objects. These real life objects and props enrich the play of the child and broaden their imagination as the simple props are transformed into hospital emergency room, grocery stores, outer space, the ocean, and a performance stage. Each Play & Learn L.A. Gallery will help children develop observation, critical thinking, creative play skills, cognitive, motor, social and literacy skills as well as engage in imaginative play scenarios. They will also introduce children to career possibilities such as doctor, nurse, paramedic, veterinarian, life guard, boat operator, police officer, actor, reporter and so on.

Galleries at a Play & Learn L.A. Center could include:

Creativity Center & Re-Use Factory. Perhaps the heart of the Play & Learn L.A. Play Center, the Creativity Gallery provides an “Arts & Crafts Plus” experience missing from so many schools and children’s lives including painting, soft clay sculpturing and endless design projects all using re-used and previously discarded materials donated by local businesses and families. A Take-Apart Table will allow kids to dismantle donated everyday appliances and later incorporate those items into creative art projects. This Gallery will also compliment every other Gallery in the Play & Learn L.A. Center and related programming. For instance, the Creativity Center will allow families to create props for the Storytime Literacy Center’s stories and the Performance Stage productions. It will allow kids to build boats to float on Surf City’s ocean and to make planes to fly in the “Santa Susana Wind Tunnel.” Financial sponsors could include large art supplies stores, Lakeshore, Crayola, Dunn & Edwards, arts-focused foundations and other such entities.

Storytime Literacy Center. This Gallery will be based on a popular children’s story with props bringing the story alive. Parents and staff will hold regular Storytime reading sessions and parents can explore books with their children in different reading nooks with comfortable couches. Various props to assist children in learning their alphabet in an exploratory mode will be emphasized. An integrated program with the Creativity Center and Performance Stage will allow visitors to read and listen to a story, create props based on the story and then act-out the story in short performances.

Music and Dance Space. A mixed-use Gallery relying on programming to give children the opportunity to learn age-appropriate dances with a full-length wall mirror and ballerina bar. There will be an integration with the Creativity Center to build musical instruments from common, every-day items, classes in percussion and Latin American (home-made) instruments, group singing lessons and both drop-in activities as well as multi-week classes. There will be a heavy emphasis on teaching traditional songs and games that accompanied one another from different cultures. Various styles of dance will be taught with both drop-in impromptu classes and subscription classes available.

Performance Stage. A stage for children to engage in impromptu acting, programmed mini-plays, and to watch guest performers will include an audience section for visitors to sit in and enjoy the show. This space will be adjacent to both the Literacy Gallery and the multiuse rooms which will both have retractable walls to accommodate performers who might attract a larger audience from the community. A puppet theater will be easily rolled onto the stage for both impromptu and programmed puppet shows. This space could also be used to hold mock city-governance meetings with a dais and table for VIPS for kids to explore civic government processes. Financial sponsors could include Fox, Warner, AMC and other entertainment giants.

Totscape. Meeting the needs of the youngest visitors, the Totscape Gallery will allows infants, toddlers and preschoolers to safely crawl, climb, cruise and teeter over specially designed play mats, bumps, crawl spaces and other sensory-charged designs to stimulate motor activities, cognitive reasoning and other sensory skills. There will be a toddler activity table with an ever-changing assortment of artistic molding available including play dough, magnets, chalk, molding foam and other hand-on, hands-in materials to shape, contort and get busy in. Financial sponsors could include Nestle, First Steps, Parenting Magazine and other businesses aimed at the toddler world and their families.

Community Health & Fitness Center. Bike-powered exhibits that rely on children and families to pedal in order for things to happen will encourage exercise and physical activity. Treadmills that place kids in video-enhanced destinations such as the Grand Canyon, downtown L.A. and the moon will encourage kids to run to their heart’s content. In addition, there will be other fun-inspired physical activities where movement is required for other actions to be initiated. Another component will include a doctors table that allows kids to measure heart rates before and after exercise; tests for lung-strength and other measurements that gives families a sense of their physical health will be part of this Gallery. Direct lessons on the positive results from fitness will teach families that positive exercise programs are vital to healthy lives. Financial sponsors could include Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross, 24 Hour Fitness and other fitness or health concerns.

Community Market & Nutrition Center. Children will have the opportunity to indulge in a favorite pastime—playing store. Here they shop for groceries, pretend to prepare food from the deli counter and become a chef with an emphasis on learning about healthy eating habits. Financial sponsors could include Food for Less, Ralphs, Jons and other food providing companies.

Surf City. This Gallery will feature some of the best of the Southern California environment: beach, water, & rock climbing. There will be a rock wall built to look like Joshua Tree rocks with a belay rope system offering different levels of challenge. All children using the belay do so with an adult caretaker thus involving the parent into the play and providing a unique bonding opportunity as the child’s success depends on both parties working together. This Gallery will also feature a beach with sand to recreate life at the Southern California shores complete with a Life Guard station to climb and slide down and numerous role-playing opportunities. The sand will have buried treasurers (and maybe even fossils) to keep children and adults of all ages fascinated. Adjacent to the beach will be a tide pool with a very shallow section that kids can wade into up to their ankles as they explore the tide pool’s various discovery objects. A ½ sailboat to climb on, explore and engage in imaginative play will be moored at the beach. At a higher level will be a water table simulating an ocean tide that children can float small boats, play with plastic sea animals, use canal locks to change the tide, and clear the ocean floor of debris and items that pollute our precious resource. There will also be a real aquarium with sea creatures that can be touched with staff present at certain times of the day. The Creativity Gallery will give children a chance to build their own small boat out of wood or other materials in order to try it on the Surf City ocean. Financial sponsorship could include companies such as Coppertone, Cruise Lines, REI and other outdoor related companies.

Port City & Construction Site. With a ship to unload at the port dock and buildings and cities to create, the Port City & Construction Site will keep families busy as they cooperatively play with large and soft building blocks, small wooden blocks, use cranes, buckets, cranks, a kid-powered conveyer belt, pulleys and wheelbarrows to get the building materials from the ship to the city for building towers and the “Build A House” section. Wooden train tracks can be assembled from the Port to the City to move materials with the miniature push-train set. Blocks, construction paper, cardboard and other materials can be glued, painted and shaped in the Creativity Gallery to be used in the Port City & Construction Site. Financial sponsors could include the L.A. and Long Beach Ports, Lego, shipping companies, construction companies, architectural firms and other such companies.

Santa Susana Wind Tunnel. Visitor operated propellers and fans can be explored to see the effects of wind. A paper airplane runway will give families an opportunity to test differently designed paper and plastic airplanes that they created in the Creativity Center with hoops for accuracy and measuring tape for distance available to create a game environment. Rubber-band propelled airplanes created by the Center will also be available for play. A platform with plexiglas walls built over large fans can create a vertical wind tunnel that blows all types of materials partially secured onto the walls that will then float through the room, and when the fans stop, these materials will float back down; the kids will then fit each shaped-item back into its own place having to solve the puzzle-like placement challenges all the while learning about wind, force, gravity and cleaning-up! Financial sponsors include companies such as Boeing, United Airlines, Institute of Museum & Library Services, and energy-giants who have wind-generated power such as Edison, among others.

Vet & Pet.  Children will learn how to take care of a variety of animals with different exhibit centers in the Vet & Pet Gallery including feeding stations, grooming stations, animal tricks stage, x-rays and examining station, and a kennel and sleeping quarters for the animals. The Gallery will be filled with various stuffed animals, including some with repairable injuries. Relationships with local pet stores or animal habitats ranging from the Zoo, to Star Eco Station in Culver City, to animal rescue places will be created for occasional live animals to be brought to the Vet & Pet Gallery. Volunteers from local veterinarian hospitals will be sought to enhance the experience for children and their families. Financial sponsorship could be sought from companies such as PetCo, Purina, local for-profit veterinarian hospitals and other animal related companies.

Moonscape and science room. A springy moonscape that recreates iconic images of the moon’s surface will allow kids to jump around like an Astronaut will be the main attraction of this Gallery. Pretend-telescopes with images of the solar system and planets will give kids access to the wonderment of the sky above them, even in an enclosed building during daylight hours. Other fun and simple science experiments will keep kids and their families busy in this Gallery. Financial sponsors could include NASA, Boeing, and other science and space oriented concerns.

Post Office. Kids will be placed in a mock-mail sorting room to have their chance to ensure packages and letters are delivered on-time to the right place, affix stamps, and prepare packages. Packages will be color-coded with a world map so that kids are exposed to geography. A post office vehicle (or UPS truck etc. depending on the financial sponsor) will be stored there for kids to explore and play role-playing games. Work on the packages and letters can also be done in the Creativity Center to create works of art the children could take home in order to continue their fun after their visit. Financial sponsors could include UPS, Federal Express or other delivery companies.

Media Center. Kids will have a chance to be behind, and in front, of real television cameras. Programming could include making the news with anchors and meteorologists, producing commercials, and engaging in oral history projects to record views on their community’s needs and a Living Memories program to record multi-generational family histories. Filmed sessions can be uploaded onto the Play & Learn L.A. website and be a treasured family multi-media memento. Financial sponsors could include Time-Warner, Fox, Telemundo, Verizon or other media companies.

Community Partner Space. Los Angeles is blessed with the Natural History Museum and California Science Center. Because these institutions are not easily accessed by all residents, they have developed travelling programs. These programs can be easily adapted for use in a small Gallery inside a Play & Learn L.A. Center. We have had initial discussions with both museums who have expressed interest in doing community outreach by placing their exhibits in our Center.

Mobile Exhibits will be utilized for community outreach and in parts of the Museum to be determined. These include:

      1. Puppet-theater.

      2. Digital video-booth to record participants experiences into at PLLA and views on their community’s needs.

      3. Mock city-council dais and tables/chairs.

Other space-use ideas:

1. Revenue generating gift-shop at the entrance foyer.

2. Lending Library (if partnership with public library system could be created).

3. Wall design & window-space reserved for local children’s art or other relevant play artifacts.

4. Size-appropriate features for small children such as smaller doors, crawl-spaces and even family restrooms with children-size facilities. Galleries will be linked through tunnel and other fun alternate entrances.

5. Multiple resting and observation opportunities for older or tired family members.

                                     Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Programming in the Play & Learn L.A. Galleries

In addition to the programs, courses and services offered in Play & Learn L.A.'s Family Resource Center, we will be offering programs, courses and events in the Play & Learn L.A. Galleries. Some of these will include:

• Book Art Workshop using the Creativity & Literacy Galleries

• Homework Time for students in grades 3-4 using multi-use rooms

• Music & Dance traditions using the Music and Dance galleries

• Storytime at the Literacy, Theater and Toddler Galleries

• Children’s Art & Writing Contests using the Creativity & Literacy Centers

• Family Nights in the entire Children’s Museum part of the Center

• Talent Showcase using the Theater Gallery

• Pajama-Party Nights in the entire Children’s Museum part of the Center

• Creative Crafts for Kids using the Creativity Center Gallery 

  

Are there programs not listed above that should be part of Play & Learn L.A.'s offerings? Please let us know by commenting on this post.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Extended Biographies

 

Board of Directors

Board President: Scott McVarish, Attorney and Community Organizer

Scott McVarish is an attorney and community organizer. He worked for the California Teachers Association (CTA), the largest union in California, and its affiliate chapters for 10 years, retiring in 2008. Previous to CTA, Scott was the Executive Director of the Model Neighborhood Program, a community organizing group with funding from Kaiser Permanente’s Good Neighbor Program.

As a staff attorney for CTA, Scott represented local chapters in unfair labor cases and individual teachers in employment discrimination cases. Highlights included his completion of negotiations for the first-ever collective bargaining agreement for the Rosedale Teachers Association and protecting the rights of gay teachers in cases featured on Dateline NBC including the Dr. Jim Merrick case. Scott specialized in negotiating win-win settlements between the teacher union chapters and their respective school districts that saved taxpayers and union members hundreds of thousands of dollars. Scott also extensively trained teachers regarding their legal rights in a sought-after training entitled Teachers & the Law. Scott also ran the college-outreach campaign for the No on Prop 38 Campaign, hiring, training and supervising eight field organizers.

As the executive director for local CTA affiliates, Scott organized his chapters into politically powerful forces that dominated local school board and even city council elections, winning CTA’s highest political awards on numerous occasions. Scott managed the political campaigns of 14 school board and city council candidates, winning 12 of the races against well-entrenched incumbents. These campaigns varied from $20,000 to $400,000 in expenditures and mobilized unprecedented numbers of teacher volunteers. Scott used innovative community organizing strategies based on asset mapping, community coalitions, advanced geo-coding of voters and Saul Alinsky organizing tactics. In his internal organizing, Scott blended strong advocacy for his members with high-profile public accountability campaigns for local school district officials.

Scott graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in International Communications (through the College of Honors Program), and then later earned a joint- J.D., and M.A. from the UCLA School of Law and School of Public Policy respectively. In law school, Scott’s honors included winning the Equal Justice America Fellowship and was named UCLA’s first-ever LeBeauf Scholar and Student of the Year. Scott studied one year at El Seminario Biblico Latinoamericano in San Jose, Costa Rica and remains fluent in Spanish. At the age of 20, Scott wrote the book The Greening of New Zealand, published by Random House, detailing strategies of local environmental, labor and community groups in New Zealand where he lived for two years.

Scott currently resides in Culver City and has a 3 year old daughter.

Board Vice-President: Rosa Diaz, Elementary School Teacher, Long Beach

Rosa Diaz has taught elementary school for 16 years in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Los Angeles County. As pat of her commitment to students, parents and her own children, Rosa has served as the President of the PTA, New Teacher Coordinator, and helped found the nationally recognized YMCA Community School at Stevenson Elementary. Rosa continues to live in the neighborhood of West Long Beach where she grew up and has three children including an 11 year-old special-needs child.

Board Treasurer: Robert Dhondrup, Communications Director, Southern California Non-Profit Housing Association

Robert has worked for almost 20 years in the non-profit and labor movements gathering an extensive array of key contacts for Play & Learn L.A. Robert is currently the Director of Communications for the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing where he directs communications and does public relations work for a trade association of over 450 housing developers and community development corporations. He formerly served as the Political Consultant to the Teachers Association of Long Beach/California Teachers Association and helped run the successful political campaigns of three school board challengers. Previous work included the Political Director for the Central Labor Council Alameda County where he ran political labor campaigns including ones for Torlakson, Perata, Dutra, Corbett, Stark, Barbara Lee, Torrico, Hancock, Chan, Bay Area Gore, Kerry, Gray Davis, and too many others to list. Robert received his start with the Working Partnerships USA, South Bay Labor Council where he served as the Communications Director running communications for a New Economy think tank for Amy Dean. Robert received his B.A. at Arizona State University and his M.A. at USC. He has two small children who love to attend children’s museums!

Elizabeth Martinez, Middle School Teacher, Norwalk

Elizabeth Martinez has taught elementary and middle school for 11 years in some of the lowest-income communities in Los Angeles County. She is a strong advocate for her students and fellow teachers. Elizabeth served as the Political Action Committee Chair for the Teachers Association of Long Beach for two years, winning the prestigious statewide Political Organizer of the Year from the California Teachers Association. She also served on the first-ever Board of Directors for the community organizing group “Californians for Justice.” Elizabeth has also served her teachers as a mentor, coach and representative on many school, district and union committees. She frequently advocated for teachers and students in front of the school board and city council. Elizabeth grew up in Compton and South Gate in Los Angeles County and is bi-lingual in Spanish and holds a degree in Human Development. She currently resides in Norwalk and has two young sons.

Daniel O’Connor, Chief Business Officer, InnovoCommerce

Daniel O’Connor brings extensive creative business energy to Play & Learn L.A.’s Board of Director.  Mr. O’Connor has fifteen years of experience building innovative, technology-focused organizations.  Mr. O’Connor served as Vice President of Business Development for Workshare Technology a global software company focusing on secure document exchange and document collaboration solutions.   Daniel was the co-founder of Zorch Software in 2004. Zorch was acquired in 2007 and Daniel became the Technology Director for Computer Sciences Corp, a 96,000 IT systems company operating in 90 countries.  Most recently Mr. O’Connor launched InnovoCommerce with three other partners in Irvine, CA.  The founders of InnovoCommerce have built significant technology companies including one acquired by one of the world’s largest banks.  InnovoCommerce focuses on streamlining mission-critical processes for healthcare and life science, financial services and professional services organizations. Mr. O’Connor earned his B.A. from San Francisco State University, M.A. from University of California, Los Angeles and J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.  He has two sons including a 3 year old frequent visitor to children’s museums.

Bill Pitkin, Senior Program Officer,  Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Dr. Bill Pitkin has a wealth of experience in the non-profit and public sectors in Los Angeles. With a Ph.D. from UCLA’s Department of Urban Planning, Bill has extensively researched urban disinvestment in Los Angeles, directed research and planning for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and UCLA’s Advanced Policy Institute, served as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation, and currently serves as the Senior Program Officer for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation overseeing its domestic grantmaking and programs. Bill has an extensive network of contacts in the Los Angeles urban community and the non-profit sector nationally. Bill has two young children.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Pediatricians Urge Free Play

Play & Learn L.A.’s “Play Center" will provide a safe and educational environment for children and their families and caretakers to play and learn together.

 A recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that today’s children could be considered the most inactive generation in history. This is especially true in low-income communities. There are four primary reasons for this. First, the number of accessible and safe play spaces is decreasing. Second, under pressure to deliver certain academic assessments, schools are cutting down on the frequency and time kids spend in recess and have reduced time for creative arts and physical education. Third, kids are spending more and more time in front of the television or computer. Fourth, “structured” activities such as organized sports are replacing free, “unstructured” play.

 The Academy’s Report goes on to explain how “Play” is a crucial factor in the overall well-being of children. Play affects the level of quality of life children will enjoy. It is also essential for the cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being of children. The Academy’s Report, along with other studies, has found that there is a stark difference between children who play and children who don't.

Kids who play are healthier. Kids who play are less likely to be obese and develop obesity-related health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.

Kids who play do better in school. Kids who play develop the cognitive skills that are positively linked to learning and academic performance.

Kids who play, play well as adults. Kids who play build their confidence and learn the social skills that help them become happy, well-adjusted adults

 

If we want a world full of healthy, happy and successful adults, we need to be sure we create a world where kids can play.

Source: "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds" A Clinical Report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kenneth R. Ginsberg MD, MS Ed., and the Committee on Communications and

 

 The type of play that Play & Learn L.A. can feature in our Play Center will:

 · Allow children to develop imagination and physical, mental, and emotional strength

      · Help children conquer fears, practice adult roles, and develop confidence

      · Allow children to learn to work with others, share, and self-advocate

      · Build active, healthy bodies

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Working with Community Leaders

Play & Learn L.A. is looking for redevelopment and revitalization projects in South or East L.A. with which we could partner. Once we have found a location for a Play & Learn L.A. Center we will help individuals and groups in the community who wish to have the Play & Learn L.A. Center become a reality. Play & Learn L.A. will assist these individuals and groups to form a Play & Learn L.A. Community Advisory Council to organize resources and support for the creation of a Play & Learn L.A. Center.

A successful Community Advisory Council would:

• Include involvement on the Council from parents and leaders in the community including local elected officials.
• Generate awareness and participation in the Play & Learn L.A. Center from families in the community.
• Inspire volunteering from families, parents and individuals in the community to assist the Play & Learn L.A. Center to create and achieve its programmatic goals.
• Assist in identifying and securing an appropriate building or retail space to house the Play & Learn L.A. Center at no cost if the redevelopment project is unable to house the Center.

The Play & Learn L.A. Board would offer expertise and support to the Community Advisory Councils including but not limited to securing funds for the creation and operation of the Play & Learn L.A. Center and staffing for each Center.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

The Values of a Play & Learn L.A. Center

Play & Learn L.A. Will Promote Family Values

• Countering the challenge of scarce family time, Play & Learn L.A. Centers will be places away from domestic distractions, where parents and caregivers have the chance to get lost in the moment of interacting with their children.
• They will environments where families play and connect in meaningful ways.

Play & Learn L.A. Will Protect Children from Society’s Assault Against Childhood

• Play & Learn L.A. Centers will be places that don’t impose a strict agenda or schedule, where children can spend time playing.
• They will celebrate play and creativity and respect childhood.

 Play & Learn L.A. Will Be a Catalyst for a Better Community 

• Play & Learn L.A. Centers' exhibits, programs and workshops will be valuable resources, especially in communities where enrichment programs have been reduced or cut due to budget constraints.

• Play & Learn L.A. can be a bridge to cultural institutions such as California Science Center to be in the community.

Play & Learn L.A. can be a catalyst to create a much greater emphasis on early childhood education and skillful parenting.

• Play & Learn L.A. will collaborate with educational and social service organizations and offer workshops for parents, teachers and childcare professionals.

Play & Learn L.A. Will Serve as a Town Square and Build Social Capital.

· A landmark examination of civic engagement, Working Together: Community Involvement in America, indicates that children are one of the most likely subjects to motivate community involvement. Children’s museums engage families and individual citizens to share their talents and points of view.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Do you want a Play & Learn L.A. Center in Your Community?

Imagine having a world-class children’s museum/community center in your neighborhood that kids want to go to as much as Disneyland, that teachers line-up for to use as field trips, and that families and caregivers turn to for the best classes and social services in the area.

Let us know if you live in one of the revitalization areas where the following developments are occuring:

Community Redevelopment Agency Project Areas;

Los Angeles Community Design Center Project List;

Local Initiatives Support Corporation Partnerships.

 

 

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Money Spent in the Community

Data collected from 40,000 attendees at a range of arts events (including children’s museums) reveal an average spending of $22.87 per person, not including the price of admission. This spending generates an estimated $80.8 billion of valuable revenue annually for local merchants and their communities. The findings of this survey also reveal that non-local attendees spend nearly twice as much as local attendees ($38.05 compared to $21.75), demonstrating that a community that attracts cultural tourists stands to harness significant economic rewards (Cohen 2002).”

Source: Association of Children’s Museums “The Case for Children’s Museums.”

 

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Play & Learn L.A. Centers Will Serve as Town Halls

Children’s museums offer an important physical infrastructure in communities. Some children’s museums are also the library, the after-school enrichment center, the summer camp as well as the local voting precinct. A true town square attracts all community members. Children’s museums not only attract but also reach beyond specific programming to address basic questions of access and reach. Many feature bi-and trilingual signage and educational materials, offer discounted/free admission days and bring museum resources directly into neighborhood settings. Children’s museums intentionally and thoughtfully welcome community participation in the museum experience. Children’s museums invite local citizens to demonstrate talents and to share from their cultural backgrounds. Through all these actions, children’s museums help build strong communities.

Through the network of children’s museums, innovative ideas—such as forming city-wide partnerships to coordinate a kindergarten preparedness program, an outreach art program for homeless children or a family learning program that teaches parents and caregivers how to support their children’s school learning—are passed on from museum to museum, and interpreted for each community.

SOURCE: Association of Children's Museum: "The Case for Children's Museums." Available at www.childrensmuseums.org/

Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Children Will Learn Foundational Skills at the Play & Learn L.A. Centers

The landmark study “Learning in Children’s Museums: Is It Really Happening?” confirms that while children play in a children’s museum, observable and quantifiable learning takes place (Puchner et al 2001). From simple cause and effect; to small motor skills, to informational, procedural learning; to conceptual cause and effect, the study documented changes in children’s mental representations due to experiences at a children’s museum.

A May 2003 Young Children article, “Chopsticks and Counting Chips,” lists a number of studies that show the links between play and many foundational skills and complex cognitive activities such as memory (Newman 1990), self-regulation (Krafft and Berk 1998), distancing and decontextualization (Howes and Matheson 1992; O’Reilly and Bornstein 1993; Seigel 2000), oral language abilities (Davidson 1998), symbolic generalization (Smilansky and Shefatya 1990), successful school adjustment (Fantuzzo and McWayne 2002) and better social skills (Corsaro 1998).

A 1997 ZERO TO THREE survey revealed that while parents understand that their children’s earliest years powerfully shape later development and learning, they are often unsure about what they should be doing to promote healthy emotional, social and intellectual development. Children’s museums translate research findings into clear, practical messages for parents. Museum staff, signage and exhibit environments inform adults and children about the characteristics of play and how to encourage play. In other words, children’s museums serve as play mentors, teaching families how to learn together through play.

SOURCE: Association of Children's Museum: "The Case for Children's Museums." Available at www.childrensmuseums.org/

Submitted by: Scott McVarish

October Status Update

Play & Learn L.A. has begun talks in October 2008 with community based organizations such as Para Los Ninos to team together to build and run a Children and Family Center. The community based organization would run the Family Resource Center offering a variety of services and classes such as "Parenting College" and "Baby College." Play & Learn L.A. would run the children's interactive and educational museum. At the same time we have begun discussions with non-profit developers in redevelopment zones to place a Play & Learn L.A. Center in a development project. The developer would create the shell, a 10,000-15,000 sq foot space, for our Center; Play & Learn L.A. will fill the space with our galleries and exhibits and the Parent Resource Center. The developer and Play & Learn L.A. would team together to secure funding from redevelopment agencies and other such funding sources.

 

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Keeping Costs Low

             The needs of the millions of low-income Angelinos dispersed throughout the immense County of Los Angeles cannot be met by the excellent children’s museums that are present in pockets of Los Angeles. These Museums are in West L.A. (Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, Zimmer’s Children’s Museum and LACMA’s Boone Gallery), North L.A. (Pasadena’s KidSpace and the soon to be open L.A. Children’s Museum in the North-east San Fernando Valley) and Downtown (Exposition Park Museums). It is not economically feasible to duplicate these large-scale projects throughout Los Angeles County. PLLA seeks to assist communities in economically disadvantaged communities throughout Los Angles to have a high quality children’s museum for a fraction of the cost of their larger counterparts in more affluent areas. PLLA will raise $1.5 million for each PLLA Center.

Avoid Building and Architectural Expenses. Because of PLLA’s priority of creating multiple museums with amazing galleries and great staff, we will necessarily cut expenses by minimizing building and architectural costs. Therefore, an ideal space for a PLLA Center would be in a retail area normally used for a store such as a small-sized Target or TJ Maxx.

Franchise Model. PLLA will work with a gallery and exhibit designer to create design-plans for 12-15 integrated galleries. The PLLA Board and the Community Advisory Councils would then choose which galleries from the master list to place at each PLLA Center (typically 9-10). Each gallery will be 31’ by 31’ in order to provide maximum flexibility and save on costs. Duplication of the galleries and uniformity in size will help to keep the costs low for each individual PLLA Center as most of the galleries they will house will have previously been designed and built elsewhere and galleries will not have to be re-sized based on the size of the location secured for the PLLA Center. Community Advisory Councils will also be expected to secure a building at no cost in a site location that does not need extensive redevelopment and that has no leasing expenses.

Community Partners. Partnerships with other institutions in the community will be developed for galleries to be created and funded by these community partners. Examples could be a gallery from the Natural History Museum, Inner-City Arts, or the L.A. Children’s Museum.

Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Play & Learn L.A. Will Promote School Readiness

 

Play in the “Play Center” will focus on growth motor skills, fine motor skills, social and emotional development, intellectual development, problem-solving skills, creativity, and verbal development. Play is essential to help support these foundational skills that are necessary for learning. Teachers commonly assert that the number one obstacle to learning in early grades is a student’s lack of self-regulation, perhaps the most important foundational skill tied to learning; those that never sufficiently learn it will have greater difficulty in school. Self-regulation is the skill of being able to hold an internal dialogue with oneself to anchor the decisions and actions one takes. Self-regulation has a stronger association with school readiness than IQ or entry-level reading or math (Blair, 2002. 2003; Normandeau & Guay, 1998).

Schools are given very little opportunity to teach self-regulation, being pressed instead to focus on testing to meet federal or state standards. At home, with the prevalence of TV and video-games, children learn even less self-regulation. These skills are developed in early childhood through play, particularly imaginative and role-playing games. Play & Learn L.A. Centers will offer valuable developmental play that promotes school readiness in children while encouraging older children to re-discover the excitement of learning. Our Play Center will help children develop the essential foundational skills necessary for success in school and beyond In short, we will help children adjust to school settings and enhance learning readiness, learning behaviors, and problem-solving skills.

The landmark study “Learning in Children’s Museums: Is It Really Happening?” confirms that while children play in a children’s play center such as a “children’s discovery museum,” observable and quantifiable learning takes place (Puchner et al 2001). From simple cause and effect; to small motor skills, to informational, procedural learning; to conceptual cause and effect, the study documented changes in children’s mental representations due to experiences at the play center.

A 1997 ZERO TO THREE survey revealed that while parents understand that their children’s earliest years powerfully shape later development and learning, they are often unsure about what they should be doing to promote healthy emotional, social and intellectual development. Children’s Play Centers translate research findings into clear, practical messages for parents. Staff, signage and exhibit environments inform adults and children about the characteristics of play and how to encourage play. In other words, a Play & Learn L.A. Center will serve as play mentors, teaching families how to learn together through play.

A May 2003 Young Children article, “Chopsticks and Counting Chips,” lists a number of studies that show the links between play and many foundational skills and complex cognitive activities such as memory (Newman 1990), self-regulation (Krafft and Berk 1998), distancing and decontextualization (Howes and Matheson 1992; O’Reilly and Bornstein 1993; Seigel 2000), oral language abilities (Davidson 1998), symbolic generalization (Smilansky and Shefatya 1990), successful school adjustment (Fantuzzo and McWayne 2002) and better social skills (Corsaro 1998).

SOURCE: Association of Children's Museum: "The Case for Children's Museums." Available at www.childrensmuseums.org/

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

The Need for Play & Learn L.A.

Play & Learn L.A. will establish these children & family centers in the communities where the needs are the greatest including East Los Angeles and South Los Angeles. These communities currently have the least access to the high-quality children’s museums that exist in Los Angeles County. They also lack the infrastructure in their schools and recreation centers to offer the extra educational enrichment programs necessary for success at higher levels of education.

DIMINISHING COMMUNITY RESOURCES In a recent study, 37 U.S. states and the District of Columbia identified a lack of resources or unpredictable funding levels as the most pressing school finance issue, particularly given state revenue trends (Edwards et al 2005). Cities and counties, facing record budget deficits, are choosing to cut library services to avoid reducing funds for public safety services (Adler 2000). Head Start programs continually face budget cuts. Local chambers of commerce scour to find organizations that will boost lasting economic development.

HEALTH ISSUES

The lack of safe play options in these communities contributes toward preventable health impacts on children. In South & East L.A., over 30% of youth suffer from childhood obesity [County Department of Public Health]

Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Play & Learn L.A.'s Mission

Play & Learn L.A. will:

·  Protect and promote the importance of hands-on learning through unstructured, interactive play.

· Offer high-quality early-education education enrichment programs and opportunities for children to help prepare them for success in school and life.

· Respond to the critical needs of schools, children, and families for a safe and healthy play and learning environment for children through the age of 12.

· Bring resources into the community to provide intensive parent & early education programming for families.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

Play & Learn L.A.'s Goals

Play & Learn L.A. seeks to give children in Los Angeles County greater access to educational enrichment opportunities that are not as prevalent in many lower-income areas of the County. We will do this by establishing a series of Children & Family Centers in disinvested neighborhoods of South & East Los Angeles. These “Play & Learn L.A. Centers” will be filled with interactive & educational exhibits typically found at high-end Children’s Museums in order to enhance early childhood education and development. In addition, each Center will house multi-use rooms to serve as a family resource center to offer parent (“Parenting College”) and early education programs (“Baby College”) to neighborhood families.

Play & Learn L.A. will establish these Centers at a cost significantly less than a typical Children’s Museums while producing substantially more revenue than a typical Community Center. The two components of each Play & Learn L.A. Center (“children’s interactive museum” and “family resource center”) will work together in a complementary nature to drive greater usage and attendance making Play & Learn L.A. Centers even more relevant to the host community.

 Submitted by: Scott McVarish

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