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By Matt Barrett
With the fall term kicking off in August for students throughout the Saint Louis area, our scholastic programs have resumed and are quickly hitting full stride. This year our academic initiatives have reached out to more schools than ever, including such institutions as Andrews Academy, Christ the King, and Rohan Woods. We are now providing chess instruction in several schools in the Parkway district and have received rave reviews from administrators and parents about the excitement among students about our offerings and our instructors' commitment to chess. In addition, we are developing a close relationship with the Saint Louis Archdiocese and are implementing programs at many member schools, none on as grand a scale as Immacolata.
Immocolata is off and running with chess education, offering students a chance to be part of a cutting-edge instructional offering that enhances study skills, rewards work ethic and organization, and emphasizes methodical thinking all under the format of the highly entertaining and historically noteworthy game of chess. On Monday afternoons we have an unprecedented five classes taking place all at once between kindergarten and 5th grade. These classes each have between eight and 16 students playing and practicing chess. An impressive 20 percent of the Immacolata student body is involved in studying chess. In total there are 54 kids in the Immacolata program, all enthusiastic learners who are moving forward rapidly from learning the basics of chess to higher-level strategy. Each class offers the study of principles and opportunity for in-class competition.
One key reason for the high degree of success at Immacolata is the interest and participation on a variety of levels at the school. The parents and school administration have been particularly supportive of the institution of a chess curriculum. A special thanks goes out to the talented instructors there, working from kindergarten thru 5th grade: Caleena Karstens, Brian Lau, Alex Yowell, Raymond Jackson and Tom Pathiyil. Thanks to Principal Latranga for his help facilitating these programs. When schools participate this actively and are so welcoming about incorporating chess in school, it creates a perfect learning environment. Classes on such a scale and with such obvious success as at Immacolata are a source of particular pride for our scholastics partners and are particularly effective for unlocking the teaching potential of chess.
At the collegiate level we are very proud of our efforts to enhance chess opportunities at area universities. Our partnership with Lindenwood University has yielded a formidable team for the 2012-13 collegiate season. There are four titled players on the team, hailing from the faraway lands Belarus, India, Ecuador and Georgia. LU is competing in matches against some of the strongest schools in the country and will attend this year's Pan-Am Intercollegiate Championship in December with high hopes of a strong finish. IM Priyadharshan Kannappan has already gained celebrity status in national chess circles for his astounding 5.5/6 points and MVP performance for the Arch Bishops of the U.S. Chess League. Lindenwood continues its recruiting efforts for 2013 and beyond.
Also, we have begun working with UMSL's School of Education in a fantastic partnership getting future teachers experience observing and working in the classroom, exposing them to chess and our instructional curriculum. They can move forward from the experience with a stronger sense of how to incorporate chess with math as an instructional tool for youth.
With 56 classes currently meeting on a weekly basis, the CCSCSL and the entire Saint Louis community is buzzing with chess activity! This fall, there are several upcoming events of significance in the area of chess and education. UMSL on Monday Oct 22 at the Monday Noon Series, The Center for Humanities is hosting Alex Vergilesov and Matt Barrett, Scholastic Coordinators at the CCSCSL, for a discussion of the educational value of the game and its impact in classrooms called "Learning to Learn Through Chess".
