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Chess Helps Teen Beat the Odds
Web Editor: Donna Lowry
Last Modified: 9/17/2007 11:46:05 AM
…Despite it all, Angela has never given up on herself, not even during the years she spent in and out of homeless shelters and foster care homes. She bravely proclaimed, “I was like, one day, I’m going to leave. I’m going to leave.
“It finally happened.”
She had to come stay with us through DFACS,” shares her granddad, Gary Strickland.
Strickland and his wife Joyce gave her love, stability and, “It’s a requirement in my house to play chess,” stated Strickland.
Strickland started a chess club for kids in his South Fulton community and Angela quickly became one of the instructors.
She knows the benefits of chess and passes them along to others, including children who are in foster care.
“The best gift that I could give the kids is a game that would teach them how to do critical thinking skills,” explained Angela.
It’s helped her gain confidence.
“I’m not going to accept anything that I don’t find worthy of me. It might sound stuck up, but it’s true,” Angela declared with conviction.”
Angela can do anything because she’s so motivated,” agreed Michelle LaBranch, her counselor at Riverwood High School, where Angela graduated last May. “She’s creative. She’s very smart.”
“I’m just proud of her. I’m just very proud of her,” declared her grandfather.
Here is the full story.
Very nice story. Good luck girl!
Unlike some activities which promote solutions through physical action, chess rewards patience, concentration, planning and most of all short term sacrifice for long term gains. Great story!
Susan the animal pictured on the right is a rare animal! It is a Jackalope, part antelope and part jack rabbit seen widely on the plains in the old west. They were brought from Australia.
There are about 6-8 of them living in the backyard of my new home in Texas 🙂 These are 2 of them.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar