Webster Chess Club in Minnesota
Being able to volunteer and teach chess to a group of elementary school students was an incredible experience. When I first started with the children, we had a smaller number of people, around eight or ten. We first started by introducing names, icebreakers, the usual. After this, we hit the ground running, jumping right into how the pieces moved and how to set up the board. The students had very little, if any, knowledge of the game of chess, so we had to start from scratch. I noticed from day one that it would be a challenge to be able to manage and keep everyone on track, as some of the students were not thrilled to be there. They all made incredible progress in the first couple of weeks, and many of them were telling me about how interested they were in chess; some of the kids even told me how they had started to play outside of chess club.
excited students engaging in chess
Over time, our group grew, with the addition of a few kids that grew the total size to around fifteen. At this point, it was definitely a large challenge to manage all of them, especially with a few that would get sidetracked after a couple of games. However, the overwhelming majority of them were very interested, who would constantly ask me questions and for advice. With many weeks passed by, I had started to learn what the best way is to interact with younger people. There were definitely a lot of important life lessons taught that would never have come up anywhere else but working with children. Patience was definitely a large part of what I took away, as I felt that I was tested over and over again by the students who would push the boundaries to see what they could get away with.
I think that the most memorable part of the experience was building relationships with the group members. After just a few weeks, I got to know all of the students pretty well, and I found myself having great conversations with them. We would talk about what was going on in their schools, in my schools, in their lives, and so on. It made me realize how similar I was to them, even though there was such a large age gap between us. The highlight of my week through the process was opening the door and seeing all of the members running to the door to greet me with huge smiles, not being able to wait to play against me or just talk. It was really cool to talk to a few of them after the club in the bus line about chess, as I could see that they were truly interested in the game. They would ask me about my favorite openings, pieces, and moves. It was incredible to see the progress they made in not that long of a time. When I talked to them towards the end, almost all of them really wanted to keep learning the game and said they were going to stick with it.
If I could give any advice to someone, I would highly encourage them to get involved in their community, especially if you are interested in chess. I was nervous at first, but I cannot say how glad I am that I was able to help out and make a difference in people’s lives. Impact Chess is a great way to have a community of people to help you, and is truly an invaluable resource. It is truly a life changing experience to be able to help people through chess, and I hope everyone will be able to participate if they can.
Written by Liam Cavanaugh & Published by Cindy Zhou
