After more than a year away, community partnerships returned April 26. This week, students have been visiting the St. John’s Wood Adventure Playhub, formerly known as the Adventure Playground.
Health teacher Bambi Thompson said the partnership runs five days a week, with a maximum of six students allowed per day. Beyond implementing a maximum number of attendees, further practical measures have been instituted on-site: sanitizing hands, no indoor activities and mask-wearing indoors.
Lily Mager (’21) said she had participated in community partnerships before the pandemic. Despite the protocols in place, she said the experience playing with the kids at the playhub was not all too different.
The only substantial difference, Mager said, is that indoor activities are prohibited. She said the partnership was a fun way to escape the stressors of school again.
“You kind of just get to like, hang out with kids and be a kid again,” she said.
Likewise, Thompson said the return brought a “joyous” sensation across the board for both ASL students and those at the Playhub.
“When you’re working with different age groups and you’re just having a chance to just get outside of your day-to-day, I think … they’re giving back,” she said. “Part of that is also kind of like growing your heart.”
Thompson said she hopes certain restrictions on the partnership can be lifted so that the experience is as valuable as possible.
“I just hope that it continues, and looking forward to the time when we can be back inside because it is really cool,” she said.
