t's the last thing 10-year-old fifth grader Savannah Hammontree at Alexander Graham Bell Elementary imagined would happen at school that Sept. 16. Maybe applause, a pat on the back, possibly even a hug, but never receiving an all-expense paid trip to a Disney movie opening in Hollywood.
That, and a copy of his best-selling book of I Choose To Stay: A Black Teacher Refuses to Desert the Inner City, is exactly what Salome Thomas-El gave Savannah after she recited a well-rehearsed thank you speech honoring him on behalf of the student body. Savannah now had a copy of the very book that garnered the attention of Walt Disney Pictures. Better yet, she had a ticket to the Disney film opening.
For Salome Thomas-El, who left his students back in Philadelphia to find out more about Northwest principals and teachers who have embraced First Move(tm) - the chess program created by America's Foundation for Chess - it was the least he could do for Savannah. After all, preparation opens unseen doors and Savannah had done her homework. She had planned ahead, doing exactly what Thomas-EL has spent his life teaching kids how to do.
An excerpt from I Choose to Stay, the story of how Thomas-El managed to revive an inner-city Philadelphia middle school chess team and lead them to victory at the national championships, is featured in the newly-released Chicken Soup for the African American Soul. Clearly, Thomas-El is able to inspire adults and children alike. That explains why Disney saw this story's potential to help kids find hope between the lines.
What touches home for us in the Puget Sound is that the work of a local foundation has been able to inspire him.
The AG Bell school assembly was the first stop on Thomas-El's tour of America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) First Move(tm) grant recipients. A nonprofit organization headquartered in Seattle, Wash., America's Foundation for Chess caught his attention. Thomas-El wanted to understand the inner workings of an effort that had the potential to reach more kids than he can alone while reducing drop-out rates, bringing students skills and hope.
AG Bell is a new beneficiary of this effort to bring chess into second and third grade classrooms around the country. Founder Erik Anderson is realizing his dream as more and more schools continue to request the AF4C curriculum as a tool to boost math and reading scores.
"Teachers who don't even know how to play chess are turning to our program," explains Anderson. "Educators are willing to learn how to use our curriculum, because they see that is making a difference in student performance.
"Just as exciting, is that local businesses are willing to absorb the cost of chess so schools can reap the benefits."
Anderson isn't kidding. Kirkland Life Chiropractic handed over a $7,500 check to AF4C to off set the cost of chess instruction at AG Bell. Local game company Wizards of the Coast, now a part of Hasbro, has signed on to underwrite the cost of chess in two Renton elementary schools for the 2005-06 academic year.
With this much local business support for chess, in a few years, we may be able to thank corporate America for doing its part to ensure no child is left behind.
According to Dr. Deborah Adams, partner at Kirkland Life Chiropractic (KLC), "businesses have got to give back to their communities. KLC has given to several charities over the years, but we believe that the work that AF4C is doing is most closely aligned with our mission to ensure Americans do what it takes to have a healthy mind and body."
No one can refute that chess develops the mind. Scientific studies have confirmed that chess improves spatial reasoning skills and math problem solving. And principals (including Jeff Newport at AG Bell) are staunch believers in the importance of chess in the classroom.
"We want a school that is noisy, active, colorful - a school where kids have opportunities to create, think and dream," explains Newport. "Chess will help us reach these goals, and ultimately meet district and state academic requirements."
Thomas-El and America's Foundation for Chess are clearly at the cusp of a huge national trend and Kirkland is part of the first frontier.
"You have to repeatedly expose kids to new experiences - ones that take them away from the familiar," shares Thomas-El, "with chess, I get to do this every day. Today I got to do this for Savannah."
Rosalind Sciammas is the community relations director at America's Foundation for Chess.
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