Students Play At ​“Games Academy”

At the Celentano School cafeteria on a recent afternoon, city police Officer Alethia Moore made a bold proclamation. ​“No one’s beating me at Uno,” she told the group of young students at her lunch table with a smile. 

At a nearby table, Josiah, a fifth grader, was on a roll, blocking each attempt of his opponent to make inroads in Connect 4. ​“You got this,” he said to himself quietly, eyes fixed in concentration, as classmates throughout the space engaged in their own heated games of Uno, Connect 4, checkers, and dominoes.

The occasion was a pilot run of the Games Academy, the brainchild of New Havener Neil Richardson, the 2018 City Spirit honoree, who started the program in the early 1990s at Jackie Robinson Middle School while at the Board of Education.

“I noticed during lunchtime kids taking five or eight minutes to eat, and rest of the time they had nothing to do,” said Richardson, amid the sounds of chatter and laughter in the brightly-lit cafeteria of the Canner Street pre K‑to-eighth grade school. Board games like chess and checkers, besides being fun and providing an outlet, might provide a learning opportunity, he said.

That’s consistent with studies showing a host of benefits in board gaming for children including problem-solving, strategic thinking, as well as memory and focus. 

With the help of funding from the Board of Education, the Games Academy proved a hit. He invited police officers. ​“The kids needed to see them in a different light, other than arresting someone or pulling them over and questioning them,” he said. A participant ended up prevailing in the NHPD-sponsored chess competition, he said.

A few months after initiating the program, Richardson was appointed a judicial marshal in New Haven Juvenile Court. For years, no one took up the mantle of the Games Academy. Until last week when, with support from Celentano Assistant Principal Lisa Pietrosimone, the Board of Education’s Danny Diaz, and the Dixwell/Newhallville Senior Center, Richardson engineered its comeback. 

“Lunchtime is where a lot of interactions happen,” said Celentano Principal Yolanda Generette. ​“This promotes positive relationships between kids, they learn how to play fair. It just gives a good feeling.” Even with Yondr pouches in use at the school, ​“it’s so important to have kids talking and playing together.”

She expressed gratitude to NHPD’s Moore and Sgt. Jason Jemiola for coming in. ​“They’re showing that officers are here to protect us and not to harm, and for students to have this kind of exposure to them goes a long way.” 

Moore sounded a similar refrain. ​“It’s important for kids to see us in a positive light, and this is a way to get there,” she said, as someone squealed in victory. 

“That’s right,” Richardson said. ​“And maybe some of the kids will meet these officers and say, ​‘I want to become that too.’” 

The plan, he said, is to find the funds to continue the Games Academy next September at schools that, as he put it, ​“really need it.” Already the chess masters at S.P.O.R.T. Academy have volunteered. The long-term plan is for a city-wide games competition. 

That’s in the future. For now, for the record, Moore went down in defeat. ​“I’ll get you next time,” she told the kids with a grin.