

t ra n s fo r m i n g l i v e s b y t ra n s fo r m i n g p u b l i c s p a c e
HIGHLIGHTS 2018
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PLAYWORK: Every Wednesday, the kids look forward to “Adventure Play” with Jane Perry. PhD, former Director of the U.C. Berkeley Child Development Center, and a life-long facilitator of children’s play, Jane is a park treasure. The kids never know what she will have in store for them. Some days, Jane sets up a station of imaginary cooking materials (plates, spoons, sand, water, berries, sticks). Children pretend they are cooking, starting a restaurant, or taking orders. Other days she organizes a water pouring activity, and children use a variety of tools (eye dropper, funnel, cup with a spout, sponge etc.) to meditatively pick up and pour water from one container to another. She explains that providing children with “loose parts” like these and unstructured free play allows them to “make sense of what is going on in their world” and independently exercise their creativity and social skills – with adults acting only as helpers.
NATURE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
We are deepening opportunities for children to connect with the natural world in their own neighborhood. Our team of naturalists regularly visit to help guide the kids’ curiosity and fuel their joy of discovery. Phoebe Tanner, middle school teacher and Audubon Canyon Ranch Docent, swoops into the park with bug nets and collecting jars, leading kids on insect walks, and transforming initial skeptics to arthropod enthusiasts. Gardener Richard Koenig works with Phoebe to plant bushes and shrubs that attract insects. Kids work alongside Richard cultivating the Park’s garden of kale, green and red chard, strawberries and herbs. Fridays are Harvest Days when Richard and his helpers display the produce that community members can take home and enjoy.
BABY AND ME:
We were thrilled to collaborate
with our friends at First 5 and become an official site for two six-week sessions of “Baby and Me.” In this program, every week children ages 0–5 and their caregivers attend a 90 minute session that includes sand-play, art, climbing and tumbling, or Music and Movement. The First 5 instructors report that the caregivers love being with the children in the beauty and peace of the park. The fresh air and sounds of nature further enrich the learning of our smallest citizens while supporting and gathering together their caregivers. We hope to expand on this successful program in 2019.
POGO ALL-STARS:
Each May, Pogo Park’s popular and successful Pogo All-Stars provides jobs to neighborhood youth, ages 13-21. This year, eight Pogo All-Stars worked alongside mentors and rotated through five Pogo Park work teams: Parks Operations, Design/Build, Green, Research, and Media Production. One of this summer’s new goals was a culminating project: the total restoration of the 500’ fence that surrounds Elm Playlot. Pogo All-Stars and their mentors meticulously sanded and restained every inch of the fence, bringing it back to life. At a ceremony honoring the end of the season, the mentors commented on the strengths of each Pogo All-Star and presented them with Certificates. With parents looking on, celebrating these young people has become one of the most satisfying events of the entire year.
VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD: A distinguished panel of 25 leading academics, public officials, and climate change researchers from 20 countries around the world visited Pogo Park’s Elm Playlot in May. They wanted to see, up close, an example of a vibrant grassroots community effort to plant trees as a vehicle to combat climate change. Sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service, visitors came to Pogo Park from Ghana, Kenya, Myanmar, Ecuador, Fiji, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Mexico, India, Senegal, Madagascar, Thailand, and the Republic of Georgia. It was thrilling to meet with other like-minded activists trying to do whatever they can to green urban environments in neglected communities.
SUI GENERIS AWARD: The Sui Generis Foundation awarded two founding members of Pogo Park’s Community Development Team, Carmen and Tonie Lee, with the prestigious 2018 Sui Generis award. The Foundation uses this award to recognize individuals who “exhibit unusual effort, excellence and achievement in a variety of high endeavors which uniquely serve the public good.” Sisters Tonie and Carmen were honored at an award ceremony at the Berkeley Country Club for their 10-year unwavering effort to transform Elm Playlot (Pogo Park #1) into a safe, green oasis for children and their families. Congratulations Tonie and Carmen!
ART: For two hours in the afternoons, Art Teacher Marie sets up her well-attended and beloved art station to provide a myriad of ever-changing art activities for children that include: painting, modeling with clay, beading, cutting, gluing, pasting, and making jewelry. Markeith, age 11 and a Pogo Park regular, articulates one of the crucial benefits of art: “You can express yourself by drawing and letting people know ‘You can do this.’” The atmosphere of children sitting together at tables underneath one of the park’s five magnificent sycamore trees, totally focused and immersed in creating is one of the most beautiful things about everyday life at Pogo Park.
RESOURCE STATION: Lupe Pulido, Pogo Park’s Community Connector staffs our Resource Station at Elm Playlot on Friday afternoons where she connects children and families to existing services. Lupe leads our efforts to partner with schools, community-based organizations, and government agencies to use Pogo Park as a place to provide services to the community. One of our most popular programs is providing hundreds of free eye exams and prescription glasses to children and youth through our partnership with Vision to Learn.
KEY DATA: January – December 2018
P O G O PA R K 2604 Roosevelt Avenue Richmond, CA 94804-1623 (510) 215-5500
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