Chess for Success?
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
By Erin Russell and Tori Gordon

Who knew an ancient, low-tech board game could be such an attraction? Students and staff at BSCHS are beginning to realize that the chess board located in the library is luring students.

During study halls and after school, students challenge each other to a game of chess and are often surrounded by fans. When players concentrate on their next strategic move it is silent. An eruption of cheers can be heard when a player is victorious.

This may be all fun of games, but what about the homework and class work that is being put on the back burner? With the second semester in full swing, are students becoming distracted and not doing their work in its entirety?

“It’s not a distraction. The people who need to study are still going to study,” librarian Dana St. John remarked.

Though some may say chess is a disturbance in the learning process here at school, it is an intellectual game that requires smart planning and much thought.

“It works your brain so you feel more awake and alert after you play!” senior Cayla Milius, an avid chess player, said.

The Virginia Educational Media Association, a librarian conference hosted in Richmond last November, attended by both St. John and Stephanie Lopez, inspired the idea of providing a chess board in the library. The thought of a game which is both enjoyable and intellectually challenging seemed to appeal to the librarians here at Bishop Sullivan. Not only has it proved enticing to the librarians, but also the students.

“There is often a line waiting to play chess,” Lopez noted. Lopez and St. John are looking to add another chess board to the library.

“I feel like, overall, the addition of the chess board to the library was a good move for BSCHS. It gives us a healthy break from our strenuous schoolwork,” Milius concluded.

If you are one of those chess addicts, you are in luck! A chess tournament will be hosted by the librarians in March.

Source: http://my.hsj.org

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