Listen to thisAs superintendent of the school district that serves Ferguson, Missouri, Joe Davis is keenly aware how the word “Ferguson” has become much more than just the name of a city on the outskirts of St. Louis.
“It has become code for so many other, often negative, concepts, actions and attitudes,” Davis said. Ferguson found itself at the center of worldwide attention last summer after the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown and the widespread protests and rioting that followed.
Though scars remain, Davis is optimistic that a new after-school chess program in his district’s 20 elementary and middle schools can help Ferguson heal and turn things around.
“By offering our students the opportunity to learn, play and compete at chess, we are offering our students much more than a diversion or another game,” Davis said. “We are offering opportunities to students, many of whom have had a limited exposure to the world beyond their neighborhood.”
The idea is that chess – with its emphasis on planning ahead and anticipating the consequences of each move – will positively impact student performance and behavior.
“We believe that through chess students’ critical and analytical thinking skills will improve,” Davis said. “Also, we believe that participating in chess will encourage students to read and increase their focus.”
The notion that a scholastic chess program can make such a positive impact is by no means limited to educators like Davis or communities like Ferguson. In school systems throughout the United States, chess is often presented as a transformative force that does all the things Davis hopes it will do and more for students who hail from families of lesser economic means.
Chess-in-the-Schools, a 30-year-old program that teaches chess during the school day to some 13,000 students in 51 New York City public schools that serve mostly low-income students, boasts that its participants are more likely than other students to attend school, solve conflicts peacefully and use their chess skills to “achieve academic success.”
Jamaal Abdul-Alim
10 December
http://youthtoday.org/2015/12/ferguson-puts-chess-in-schools-to-help-students/
