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Beaming faces. High fives. Exuberant parents. Cameras clicking away. Trophies held high and proud. A special sort of electricity in the air. Very special indeed. At a chess tournament in the suburban community of Westchester County, the faces of the winning New York City PS291 teams display an ethnic mix which is surprising, and exciting to behold.
Your webmaster decided to look below the surface of this school's continual successes in National Scholastic Chess Foundation tournaments, and was thrilled at what he found. This is not a story of a normal chess-in-the-schools program (though one hopes it could become the norm), but of a very special one that combines a chess curriculum with the learning of standard academic skills, and with a conflict-resolution program for at-risk children. The chess program is the brainchild of chess teacher Al Abrams and PS291 principal Yvonne Torres.
This program has shown excellent results in improving reading skills and overall academic results of children from a low economic background, and even of children in "special education" programs.
For more about this program, click on each of the following links.
PS291 Chess Program description.
Interview with Mr. Al Abrams.
Interview with Ms. Yvonne Torres.
Parent/Teacher testimonials.
Replay of a live classroom session.
(Can you solve Dilaram's problem?)
Picture Gallery
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