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Peaceful Playgrounds History
Teachers and monitors immediately saw the tenor of the playground change. Student involvement was overwhelming and the atmosphere changed from one of chaotic energy to calm focused cooperation. There was a dramatic reduction in playground injuries and as activities spread out, with students making use of a larger play area, stress and conflict due to what was perceived as overcrowding declined. Dr. Bossenmeyer made a commitment at that point to expose more schools, more teachers and more children to the benefits of her program – Peaceful Playgrounds. In 1998, through her understanding of physical activities and the infrastructure of the playground, Dr. Bossenmeyer developed the components that would make up the first Peaceful Playgrounds program to be manufactured and distributed to K-8 schools. The impact was immediate and word started to spread about the benefits. In April of that year, Family Circle magazine featured Peaceful Playgrounds in its Editor’s column. By 1999 the accolades and recognition increased when Peaceful Playgrounds received the prestigious Sharing Success Award from New York State. E. Hale Curren Elementary School, where it all started, received the State of California’s Golden Bell Award for school-safety. Requests were coming in from schools coast-to-coast and the demand for Peaceful Playgrounds was growing. Dr. Bossenmeyer saw the need to develop a series of activity stencils that would be conveniently grouped. The year 2000 saw the introduction of the Peaceful Playgrounds Program Kit. This first kit included stencils, activity guides, blueprints, playground injury reporting forms, playground reports and an overview video. By 2003, Peaceful Playgrounds was on the move, literally. Having outgrown their offices in Canyon Lake, California they relocated to Los Angeles to allow for more office space and warehousing. That same year also marked the publishing of "Play Nice" the company’s Monthly Newsletter. The rewards kept coming as Peaceful Playgrounds received the Gold Bell Award for Excellence in Education School Safety from the California School Boards Association. What does any successful company do, it incorporates. And in 2004 Peaceful Playgrounds, Inc. was formed. Branching out from strictly educational facilities, into public parks and preschools, Peaceful Playgrounds was recognized with a Friend of Recreation Award for meritorious contribution benefiting American Association for Leisure and Recreation. Keeping true to its original mission and now being recognized as the leader in their field, the Fundamental Movement Program, a preschool and primary Physical Education Curriculum, was introduced in 2005. At this same time Peaceful Playgrounds received the 2005 Best in Class Award from Action for Healthy Kids Association. More followed in 2006 when the "We Count" Pedometer Walking Program Curriculum went full speed ahead. Once again, inspiration receives acclaim as "We Count" received the National Promising Practices Award from Promising Practices in After School (PPAS). In 2007, listening to the requests of educators, administrators and students, Peaceful Playgrounds ventured into Instructional Games DVD's and created new Recess Roll Out Stencils. The Recess Blog was launched to offer valuable insight and information to visitors. Once again, in an effort to meet the ever growing concerns of schools and parents, Peaceful Playgrounds continues to improve. Online training and special Webinars are added to their website making it easy and convenient for fostering support to educators and administrators. In 2009, Peaceful Playgrounds continues to flourish and grow. In March, they moved their offices to Lake Elsinore, California to a larger facility. The location helps expand Peaceful Playgrounds line of products to bring their successful tools direct to families with retail mats and games designed for home use. As of today, Peaceful Playgrounds can be found in over 8000 schools and more than 4 million children are exposed to the benefits of our program and games. “I had a simple goal that was to get more children involved in physical activity rather than waiting in line for their turn or just standing around talking. A child who burns off energy, not only reduced their risk for obesity, but they increase their focus on education when returning to class.” - Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, Ed. D. |
It started simply
enough in 1995. While serving as Principal at E. Hale Curran Elementary
School in Murrieta, California, Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, Ed. D. put in
to use a program designed to get more children involved in physical
activity rather than waiting in line for their turn or just standing
around talking.