by Hannah Beach | Mar 10, 2026 | Building Relationship, Community Building, Emotional Health, Emotional Release, Inclusion, Play, Professional Development
It’s Week 4 of our Re-Thinking Recess series, and Tory is sharing how they’ve reimagined two big playground dynamics: soccer and loose parts. Instead of letting the game default to highly competitive, adversarial teams, they’ve intentionally structured soccer so...
by Hannah Beach | Mar 3, 2026 | Connection, Emotional Health, Emotional Release, Play, Professional Development
It’s Week 3 of our Re-Thinking Recess series, and Tory is back to share how they intentionally bring play indoors—not because of the weather, but because they believe play belongs inside, too. At St. Bernadette’s, indoor play is scheduled on purpose, creating...
by Hannah Beach | Feb 24, 2026 | Attachment, Building Relationship, Emotional Health, Play, Professional Development
It’s Week 2 of our Re-Thinking Recess series, and we’re so glad to welcome Tory, Principal of St. Bernadette’s Elementary School in Ottawa (OCSB), back to the conversation. This week, she shares how she thoughtfully introduces new playground materials—and how her team...
by Hannah Beach | Feb 16, 2026 | Attachment, Building Relationship, Emotional Health, Play, Professional Development, Teaching
You’ve got to check out these fabulous videos from Tory White! Tory is the Principal of St. Bernadette’s Elementary School in Ottawa (OCSB) and one of the most inspiring leaders I’ve met. After attending one of my full-day workshops on play, she took everything to...
by Hannah Beach | Nov 28, 2023 | Emotional Release, Emotional Safety, Expression, Feelings, Play, Professional Development
Play is engaging, but not necessarily ‘fun.’ Often when we think of play, we think of young children and toys. Images of children laughing, squealing and running around may also come to mind. Or perhaps, on hearing the word ‘play’ we think of children dressing-up,...
by Hannah Beach | Dec 13, 2022 | Emotional Health, Emotional Safety, Expression, Play
This weekend I went to the Handel’s Messiah sing-a-long and I sang my heart out for two and half hours. As I sat there, surrounded by so many voices in harmony, I was reminded of how good it feels to sing in community. I realized how long it has been since I...
