Lenoir City Schools: Bringing Kids Together During Virtual School

When Lenoir City Schools heard they were one of the six winning school systems of the 2020 ChessKid grants, high school math teacher Christina Mullinax was ecstatic! This ChessKid grant is one of the largest scholastic chess grant programs in the country with the stated goal of using chess as a force for good/positivity. As a chess coach she knew this was a great opportunity for every elementary and middle/intermediate student to be introduced to the game of chess.

With 85 percent of Lenoir Elementary students and with 75 percent of Lenoir Intermediate/Middle students on free or reduced lunch, winning a grant for free ChessKid gold accounts during a pandemic could be a game changer.

Lenoir City Elementary School

Lenoir City Intermediate/Middle School
  • Asian .2%
  • Black 3.9%
  • Hispanic 54.5%
  • Native American .2%
  • White 41.2%
  • Asian .5%
  • Black 4.3%
  • Hispanic 44.8%
  • Native American .5%
  • White 49.9%

 Lenoir City Schools is located in Eastern Tennessee with a student population of just over 2,300 students. The system started the school year on August 12th offering both virtual and face-to-face instruction options for their students.

 

 

Under the grant award, every elementary and intermediate/middle student in grades K-6 received free gold accounts for the school year. Students are able to work at their own pace in their free time on ChessKid, utilize the program for after school chess club, or engage with ChessKid during the school day.

Chess During The School Day

The Intermediate/Middle school English Language Learner (ELL) teacher is utilizing the ChessKid language setting to teach kids how to play chess in their native language (chesskid.com/es for Spanish, for example). The ELL teacher is planning to use the ChessKid lessons that are also available via audio to help her students learn and improve their English language skills. 

Any student can change the language for his or her account under settings by clicking on the cog in the upper left corner of the homepage:

Then in the drop down menu select the preferred language and click SAVE:

 

Chess After School

After school chess clubs also use ChessKid because tournaments are mostly played online at present. Over-the-board practice and tournaments are not occurring in schools, and Lenoir City feels fortunate to be able to expand access to the ChessKid program for more students this year. 

Coach Christina Mullinax pictured above with her High School chess team members.

Academic Benefits of Chess

As a math teacher, Christina Mullinax sees the correlation between chess and math.

“I believe the greatest benefit from chess is that it teaches problem solving in an honest way. Each position and game is unique, just like the problems they will encounter in real life. Each student learns to be responsible for their own plans and choices. Flexibility is essential as plans go off the rails and students have to change and adapt. They practice vocalizing their thinking and evaluating the thinking of others. Finally, they learn to reflect on their choices, and let that reflection impact their future choices. These are the skills that students need to be successful in their future.” 

We look forward to following Lenoir City Schools this year and watch the progress their students are making both academically and in their extra curricular chess programs.

Want to learn more?

If your organization is interested in learning more about the benefits of chess or if you have a great story about how chess has had a positive impact on your kids, please contact us at [email protected]. If you want to set up a chess program with 100+ kids, we have tools and resources to help you!