An 8.5 Academy English class, which is a one year program to get students back onto a college-bound track, needs your help to give them chess books. My students have so many factors working against them that it is almost impossible to get them interested in reading, but they have become interested in chess. It surprised me greatly when, though a unique school program that introduced chess into my classroom, my students began to want to play chess everyday. Chess has begun to change student attitudes away from focusing on only the negative towards the possibility of a more positive future. I work everyday for the possibility that in the future my students will attend college.
Most of my students have never read an entire book in their lives. Their lives are so chaotic that a mere book does not have power to hold their attention long enough to be finished. To my surprise, despite the constant instability that my students live with, chess has broken through. In order to take advantage of this breakthrough, I want to use chess books as a hook for activities that improve their reading, and eventually their writing.
If a collection chess “How To” and story based books can be purchased for my academy students, I will be able to hold their attention long enough to improve their reading and writing skills sufficiently to put them back on to a path that leads to college. My students have the potential to go to college, but the background noise of their lives has been blaring for so long that they have stopped listening to anything else. But, I believe that chess can continue to quiet the chaos, if supported by chess books, for long enough to allow literacy to grow, “like a rose from concrete.”
To state it bluntly, there isn't enough money in our educational budget for resources, like these books that can link chess and literacy, that can have such a powerful impact my students' daily realities and future possibilities. But, you can help my students by supplying them with books that will serve as learning tools to move them from this class towards a brighter tomorrow, which includes college.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Weiss and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.