Chess teaches students logic, sportsmanship
By JESSICA BAUER
LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER
Students in Conway have many choices in extracurricular activities, from to band to athletics to cheerleading, but they also have an option that strengthens both sportsmanship and academic performance.
In schools across Faulkner County, chess clubs have been rapidly forming and students have been honing their logic, math and problem-solving skills just by learning the game.
According to Debra Stuart, Gifted and Talented specialist at Simon Intermediate School, there are 20 kids who participate in the school’s chess club, which is coached by her daughter, Emi, a sophomore at Conway High School East.
“She’s been playing since the third-grade and she has been playing professionally for several years,” Stuart said. “She was fifth in the nation about three years ago, so she has been a big help.”
Stuart said her daughter has worked with students on strategies, learning how to make notations and she has even held a simultaneous display, where she played every team member at the same time.
…The teachers and administrators of St. Joseph encourage chess as a school activity because it something fun to do, but is at the same time conducive to learning.
“Chess is excellent for critical thinking skills, discipline and staying on task,” Freyaldenhoven said. “And we have tracked the kids’ performance since the beginning of the year and we have seen improvements in the classroom, not only in behavior, but academically the kids just seem to do better.”
Freyaldenhoven said the school’s team was started by a blessing in disguise in the form of Hurricane Katrina.
“Our chess coach, John Johnson, approached us when he was displaced from Hurricane Katrina and came to Conway to be with family members,” Freyaldenhoven said. “He came to us and said he loved the game and loved teaching it to others and really believed in its benefits to students.”
Freyaldenhoven said Johnson’s main goal is to spread the activity not just to Christian schools, but to the local residents in general to give kids something constructive to do after school. She said he hopes to eventually begin a Conway chess league.
The younger students aren’t the only ones who have been getting involved in chess, Conway Christian High School has its own team on campus.
“Chess is so important because it teaches strategic thinking skills and logical thinking,” Thad Wells, Conway Christian chess club advisor, said. “It also gets them interested in something other than a video game.”
Source: TheCabin.net
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