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Mr. Horton’s Classroom Edit display name

  • Choctawhatchee Senior High School
  • Fort Walton Beach, FL
  • More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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Boards, pieces, and the desire to play. That's all that is really required to play a game of chess. This is my first year teaching at my school and we've never had a chess club before this year. At the beginning of the year, our new principal decided to set up an area in the cafeteria where students could play games like Chess, Checkers, and Backgammon. Within the first few days of school, dozens of kids had started spending their lunch time playing chess. We had so many students ask about starting a chess club, that I decided to create and sponsor the club. Chess provides an exceptional opportunity for students to practice problem solving, strategizing, and improvisation skills. I have found that some of the students who want to play chess and want to learn about the strategies involved in chess are also students who struggle with math and hate reading. Some of these students who are unable to visualize a problem are able to anticipate an opponents strategy and plan out their next four moves when looking at a chess board. But the problem is that my school doesn't have enough chess boards and chess sets to meet the demand. In all, we only have enough pieces to scrap together four sets. Four sets is not enough. With 15-20 students every week and only four chess sets, we are forced to have over half the club sit out. My fear is that with these students being forced to sit on the sidelines and spectate instead of being able to play, many of them will give up and stop coming. With these new chess boards, students will not only able to play, they will be excited and proud to make the first move!

About my class

Boards, pieces, and the desire to play. That's all that is really required to play a game of chess. This is my first year teaching at my school and we've never had a chess club before this year. At the beginning of the year, our new principal decided to set up an area in the cafeteria where students could play games like Chess, Checkers, and Backgammon. Within the first few days of school, dozens of kids had started spending their lunch time playing chess. We had so many students ask about starting a chess club, that I decided to create and sponsor the club. Chess provides an exceptional opportunity for students to practice problem solving, strategizing, and improvisation skills. I have found that some of the students who want to play chess and want to learn about the strategies involved in chess are also students who struggle with math and hate reading. Some of these students who are unable to visualize a problem are able to anticipate an opponents strategy and plan out their next four moves when looking at a chess board. But the problem is that my school doesn't have enough chess boards and chess sets to meet the demand. In all, we only have enough pieces to scrap together four sets. Four sets is not enough. With 15-20 students every week and only four chess sets, we are forced to have over half the club sit out. My fear is that with these students being forced to sit on the sidelines and spectate instead of being able to play, many of them will give up and stop coming. With these new chess boards, students will not only able to play, they will be excited and proud to make the first move!

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