CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – After two years of pushing for change, a group of Clarksville-Montgomery County School System moms have seen their efforts produce results: Elementary school students will now have 40 minutes of unstructured, screen-free recess daily.
On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Lee met with five of the “Say Yes to Recess” moms as he signed the legislation requiring more recess time.
“It’s inspiring, but more than anything, I’m so happy that my kids have witnessed this,” said Morgan Garner, a CMCSS mother and Say Yes to Recess member. “It’s more than the minutes to me. It’s the principle that everyone involved recognized this as such a necessary change and rallied behind this idea of more recess.”
Start of ‘Say Yes to Recess’
In 2023, Garner began to notice issues in her 3rd grade daughter’s behavior: high stress and uncontainable energy that seemed to worsen on rainy days…