Roy Moral, Cypress Creek principal and chess club founder gives some pointers to students Ana Rosales and Neftali Aguilar, while volunteer Peretz Miller looks on.
Chess club makes a big move
By JOHN CEBALLOS
Published: March 24, 2010
RUSKIN – In a six-month span, the kids in Cypress Creek Elementary school’s chess club went from novices to champions.
The school won a pair of trophies at the Florida Scholastic Chess League West Regional Tournament on Feb. 27 in Tampa. They captured first place in the K-5 division, and third place in the K-3 group.
“Except for two kids, no one in the club had prior experience,” said Roy Moral, principal at Cypress Creek and founder of the chess club.
Moral started the club in September with help from an $11,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Sun City Center for after-school activities.
The principal had previously established successful chess clubs at his two previous stops, Wimauma and Palm River elementary schools.
“With the club here, I wanted to start off slow, but we ended getting a pretty big rush of kids wanting to learn the game,” Moral said.
Today, the club has about 40 members and meets every Friday from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. in the school’s media center.
“I like that the game is quiet and it lets you concentrate a lot,” said Jasmine Diaz, 9. Diaz is one of the few players who had prior experience. “I want to keep playing better.”
Here is the full article.
Good job coach!