Building Champions

A shameless bookworm, there have been a few books along the way that have literally changed my life. The idea began as a mental seedling while reading one of those books. “Teaching with Poverty in Mind” by Eric Jensen (2009) challenged me on a fundamental level. I am a brain research disciple, especially where it pertains to learning. In his book, Jensen lays out a solid case for how chronic stress in the life of a child directly impacts learning. My school is filled with such children. Jensen uncannily described them, and I knew his research might hold some answers for us.

One of his suggestions for building strong neural pathways in the areas of the brain responsible for stored memory and concentration, was playing chess. Armed with solid research, I built my case and pitched it to my principal last Spring. It was an easy sell. He was onboard and enthusiastic right away.

We contracted the services of a local chess master to teach us the fundamentals, ordered enough sets for every student in the building, and built time into the weekly schedule for all students to play chess simultaneously.

I must admit to some trepidation and mental nail biting on my part. “If you build it, they will come,” does not necessarily transfer to children enjoying a weekly game of (mandatory) chess. I don’t even know how to play the game myself. Is it fun? How would I know? But brain research disciples put a lot of faith in the research, so I took a leap of faith and assured my teachers, who were really the ones expected to make this work, that this was a good idea.

And to my absolute delight, it seems that it was. Even our Kindergarteners have taken to a simpler version of chess called,“Pawns,” accompanied by entertaining and instructional YouTube videos that their resourceful teachers found.

It all came to a glorious culmination today in the form of a competitive chess tournament, held in the gym on a Saturday. We don’t hold school events on the weekend, at least not in the years that I have been here. I honestly didn’t know if anyone would show up, or not. More mental nail biting. But they did. Enough, anyway, to consider it a real tournament. And oh, what a time they had!

A few stories stand out in my mind…

… the boy with Autism who comes from a family of athletes, and has found something he, too, can be good at. His mother thanked me profusely for handing her son that gift…

… the third-grader who was so determined to participate in the tournament that he did chores for a relative two weeks ago in order to earn the five-dollar registration fee so that his single mother wouldn’t have to worry about it…

… the mother who works nights and had not slept in 24 hours, but stayed awake after her shift so that she would be there for her son’s big day…

… the numerous parents who told me that bringing chess into the school has spilled over into the home and they now play with their child nightly…

… the lone Kindergartner who was nervous all morning and wanted to back out, but came at his parents’ urging and walked away with a medal and an ear-to-ear grin…

… the smiles, the PTA president who worked hand-in-hand with me to provide delicious concessions and make this a festive event, the sportsman-like hand-shakes at the end of every round, the handful of teachers that came back to work on a weekend, the support and cheering of the parents…

All of these were good for the kids, good for the parents, and good for our school. There were no losers today. All walked away with a greater understanding of the game of chess. All learned something about losing or winning like a champion, and all are inspired to keep playing and learning. The kids don’t know this, but their little brains had quite a workout today.

This disciple is one happy teacher tonight.