On Chess: Your Move Chess program stimulates minds of youth

[Sherman A1]

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/chess-your-move-chess-program-stimulates-minds-youth

The intense concentration of Erica, a fifth-grader at Walnut Grove Elementary School in Ferguson, was apparent as she played chess against one of the best in the world. This fall, chess grandmasters visited Walnut Grove and Vogt elementary schools, which as part of the Ferguson-Florissant School District are benefiting from the Your Move Chess program.

Your Move Chess – a partnership between Ascension, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, and the Ferguson-Florissant School District – has brought after-school chess clubs to district students. The goal is to help them develop critical thinking skills, build confidence, and cultivate tools that can be valuable in all aspects of life.

The mission of Ascension, the largest Catholic and non-profit health system in the country, is to provide compassionate, personalized care to all, especially those in underserved communities. Some have posed the question, “Why chess?” The answer goes beyond the chess board and pieces.

Based in St. Louis, Ascension has more than 1,900 sites of care in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Ascension has learned that community health and wellness is supported not only inside the walls of a hospital, doctor’s office or other care site, but also through programs such as Your Move Chess, a program that stimulates the minds of youth and provides a fun, safe environment to learn outside of the regular classroom.

[lastlib]

1. Wish they had had this when I was in school!

Being a chess fanatic, I would've loved it.

Sad thing about this (IIRC), is that it's funded in part by right-wing billionaire Rex Sinquefield, who is also an avid chessplayer, and benefactor of the Chess Hall of Fame, which is in St. Louis. (In 2014, he sponsored the "Sinquefield Cup" chess tournament (when you donate the megabucks, you can have it named after you) which brought eight of the ten strongest players in the world, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen, to St. Louis for what is considered to be among the strongest fields ever for a chess tournament.)

[Sherman A1]

2. Agreed

I would have loved to have had something like this when in school (although I think those days predated the existence of chess ).

I too believe that it is Rex Sinqueflield who is backing the effort, but I would rather see him do something like this with his cash than bankrolling some of the other "ideas" he has and most likely will in the future. Not that I like the guy's positions on much of anything, but even he can do some good things along the way.