Chess In Schools: It's Happening Now

 

I am Ranae Bartlett (a/k/a RainbowMom), and I am a school board member for Madison City Schools, Executive Director of the Madison City Chess League and chess coach for Rainbow Elementary in Madison, Alabama.

I am an attorney by profession and not a chess expert. But I have learned a lot about competitive chess over the last four years working with kids at Rainbow Elementary and, with the help of a lot of volunteers, watched Rainbow students become the State elementary chess champions in 2014, repeat as State champions in 2015, and win their first National elementary chess championship in 2015. 

I have also seen firsthand the benefits of playing chess in developing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills in our kids, and I wanted more kids to get to experience these benefits.

I will be writing articles for ChessKid.com explaining the process our school system went through to bring chess instruction to students in elementary and middle school. This was a big step for our school system to take, and our students will be the beneficiaries of this decision for years to come.

The WHY:

I wrote an op-ed for our local media outlet al.com that was published in January. When you advocate for chess, it is important to explain the “why” to the general public. In the op-ed, I explained: “Like physical exercise to maintain strength and coordination, chess allows one to exercise a part of the brain that requires pattern recognition, logic, strategy and calculation. In an information age, rote memorization of facts becomes less valuable, and problem solving skills and creativity become even more important.” 

Our school system also created a video explaining why we are committed to chess education: 

The HOW:

Before unleashing a new program on students, we offered teachers the opportunity to receive training on how the program works. We invited each school’s media specialists, enrichment teachers, chess club sponsors, and a variety of subject matter teachers who were interested in applying the ChessKid.com program to their regular course of study. 

Although kids will take to the program quickly, it is helpful if teachers can guide their usage.

We also hosted a free "Learn To Play Chess Night" at one of our elementary schools in order to help students who had never been exposed to the game. By providing this orientation first, it helped students navigate the program and understand how to utilize it better.

Parents signed up students to learn to play chess. The event took place in the school cafeteria where students were led by an experienced instructor and paired with an experienced student chess club member. Students who knew how to play chess and who were members of elementary and middle school chess teams were happy to volunteer and provide this community service. 

The instructor used a microphone to pace the instruction with the assistance of the student chess coaches, and kids learned the names of the pieces, how to set up a board, how the pieces moved, and the object of the game. Kids then played mini-games with some of the pieces (starting with pawns) and ultimately played with the full board of pieces before the night was done.

While the kids were learning how to play chess, parents were able to receive an introduction to the ChessKid.com program in the library/media center to help them understand the new program that their kids would be able to use during and after school. 

Parents not only received a tour of the website, but were directed to specific areas where they could reinforce what was being taught that night to their children in the cafeteria.

It was the largest simultaneous chess lesson we have ever taught in our city, and it was fun! The most rewarding part was watching so many kids who knew how to play chess give back to their community by helping teach other kids how to play. 

We will definitely do this event again.