In honor of National Poetry Month, First Move held our first annual Poetry Contest.
We encouraged teachers to take advantage of poetry month by having their students submit poems about chess.
The entries we received are filled with creativity and energy from our students and we couldn't be more pleased.
Below is one we received from Timothy Wang of Mrs. Koreski's third grade class at Sacred Heart School.
My Chess Poem about the Pieces
By Timothy Wang,
Pawns are infant, and can't move down,
But Queens are crazy, and move all around.
Knights are chivalry, that can only hop,
Bishops are spotlights, that are not easy to be caught.
The Rook is very powerful so keep it very safe,
And do not risk the King or checkmate.
Phi Delta Kappa of Washington held their Annual Membership and Awards
Luncheon on April 18th honoring great teachers. Our own "Chess Lady" Wendi Fischer
received a Great Teacher Award for her work with First Move.
Angela McCathern of Rosa Parks Elementary was also given a Great Teacher Award,
recognizing her outstanding work in teaching the First Move program.
Annual Board Meeting
The annual Board Meeting for America's Foundation for Chess was held Monday, April 20th.
We reported to the Board on our activities, growth and retention, new ideas, and our plan for the 09-10 year.
A few highlights we shared include the following: online play usage up 295%!
This has become an important component of the First Move program.
Kids love it and teachers love it because it reinforces what the students are learning in class,
and parents are thrilled that their children are playing an educational game on the computer.
This fall we will be adding a new Family Activity Book to the First Move offering that will promote family interaction as well.
This fall, we will have the final of our NWREL research project that began September 2008.
In the meantime, the anecdotal evidence continues to pile up.
The highlight for the staff this year was to be able to pass out packets
full of thank you notes to our Board members written by students in our program.
The notes are so sweet, cute, and express how much the children truly love and appreciate First Move.
Thank you very much to all of our Board Members.
Congratulations, First Mover Chad Toussaint!
This month's First Mover is Chad Toussaint. Here is what Chad's teacher Peg
Sullivan had to say about him, "Chad is an extremely bright Third Grader here at
Lincoln School. He is younger than the other students in our class because he skipped
kindergarten. Chad is an eager, enthusiastic learner of everything we present to him during the school day."
Peg went on to say "when we began the First Move Program, he would ask
every day if he was going to receive his chess set to take home.
I explained that he would be getting the set after our class had learned about all the
pieces and how they moved. But he still continued to ask every week! Chad's father is
sick at home and Chad wanted to bring his chess set home, so that he and his dad could
play chess together."
"We have learned that chess is much more than a game.
It is about positive socialization, displaying manners, and enabling a
higher order thinking process. It also is an escape for a lot of kids. Chad writes
about his chess moves and imagines the days of battles, Kings, Queens, Knights, Bishops,
Pawns, and Castles. Thank you for letting us bring this into his life" Peg said.
Schools Update:
Most of our current schools have signed up for another year of First Move.
The budget crunch is an issue but schools continue to want First Move.
One of our principals in Kentucky was told to cut everything that isn't necessary.
His response was, "First Move IS necessary."
New districts continue to sign on as well. Final numbers will be a little
later than usual, but we are still working hard.
Special Events:
This year, the US Chess Championship is being held May 7th-17th at the beautiful
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. Twenty-four of the nation's best chess
players have been invited to participate.
