General Speaker Meeting – Rebecca London, Director of Campus + Community, a center devoted to supporting community-engaged research across UCSC

Why Students Need Recess, and What We Can Do About It; Many educators and policymakers believe recess is simply fun and games, and easily dispensable to make room for more serious educational goals. The reality is that recess serves an important role for students – providing the key time during the school day when they can practice their social and emotional skills in an unregulated environment as well as be physically active and take a break from the rigors of academic learning. With the social isolation and lost connection to school experienced by children worldwide due to the pandemic, recess is critically important to help children overcome trauma and combat mental health issues. In this talk, London will share findings from her 15-year research collaboration with the national nonprofit organization Playworks, which culminated in the 2019 book Rethinking Recess: Creating Safe and Healthy Playtime for All Children in School (Harvard Education Press). She will also discuss the newly introduced CA Sen Bill 291, "Recess for All" and her role in helping to shape it.