Laughter and music rang out in the gymnasium at East Belfast Elementary School on August 7 and 8, 2025, as early childhood educators from RSU 71 and Waldo County Community Action Partners Head Start participated in Playmaker University, designed to help early childhood professionals strengthen their relationships with children. 

RSU 71 is one of six school administrative units (SAUs) across Maine that have been awarded grants through the First 10 Community School pilot, a project funded by Maine’s Preschool Development Grant. The First 10 model is a specialized community school approach that unites elementary schools, early childhood programs, businesses, community organizations, and social service agencies to support the wellbeing and academic success of children from birth through age 10.

This two-day event in early August was hosted by the RSU 71 First 10 Team as part of their work as a First 10 Community School. Educators who participated learned about the Life Is Good Playmaker Project, which teaches early childhood professionals how to help children who have experienced trauma to heal through play.

Through Playmaker University, facilitators provide a trauma-informed framework that can be used with children anywhere at any time. This training supports the social-emotional wellbeing of children and adults by improving relationships. The approach provides hopeful and uplifting strategies that can help to prevent burnout. Educators who participated said they found the opportunity to be informative, inspirational, and fun.

“It isn’t just children who experience trauma,” one educator said. “We needed this to heal ourselves after all of the challenges we have been through”. 

“The best part was doing this with the people we work with: sharing the joy and building the relationships,” another educator said. 

After the event, many words of thanks were shared with the facilitators and the RSU 71 First 10 Team for their work sponsoring this opportunity. Additional thanks went to local Principal Liz Ridgeway for championing this project and First 10 co-coordinators Kristie Hamlin and Crystal Box for their support. One participant shared: “We are so lucky for this positive start to the school year”.

The two days of in-person learning will continue with ten online modules, which participants will complete asynchronously to become certified Life Is Good Playmakers. A graduation celebration is slated for December, and the RSU 71 First 10 Team is already considering ways to share their learning with local families. 

To learn more about the Life Is Good Playmaker Project, click here. For more information about the First 10 Community School pilot that provided this event as joint professional learning for early childhood educators in the RSU 71 community, visit the First 10 Community School webpage of the Maine DOE website or contact Sue Gallant, Maine DOE First 10 Community School Specialist, at Sue.Gallant@maine.gov.