My students are from diverse cultural backgrounds. They arrive in my room from hard-working families. Our school is a rural Alaskan high school in a blue collar town. We are dealing with financial cutbacks that have limited everything from staffing to the amount of supplies we are given. Finding money for anything beyond the basics is difficult. We are currently looking at cutting teaching positions, aid positions, the hockey team, cheerleading, extracurricular activities, and many of the things that keep kids connected to school. We are trying to do more with less and hang onto these awesome kids, keeping them interested in school.
I'm trying to start Lunch Chess, offering students a quieter place to bring their lunch and play chess.
It doesn't sound like a lot, but anything new can mean interest and intrigue to them. It's a fun way to sneak in some academic thought with social benefits and let them have fun and be kids all at the same time. I'm trying to obtain 10 chess sets to get started.
My Project
Our school is facing budget cuts again. It is hard to keep the high school students believing that their education matters to the community when all they feel are cuts: fewer offerings, larger classes, and more reductions to extracurricular activities. "Lunch Chess" is one small way to offer them something new on the horizon. Chess is an intellectual activity but also a social one. Our overcrowded lunchroom can be overwhelming to students. This project's offering students a solace one day a week may be just the ticket for some kids. Bring their lunch to a quiet room, play chess, meet some new kids, hang out, burn some stress, build some skills! Chess anyone?
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