Spotlight on ASAP Chess Club Leader

Gideon School Chess Mentor Program

“It feels good being a mentor,” Says eight-grader Terrell Creighton, “The students look up to me, so I want to do better.” Terrell is one of four Gideon Middle School chess students who are teaching groups of elementary age students the ins and outs of the chess board. The brain child of Gideon Chess Coach Yvonne Laney, the Gideon Chess Mentors program is designed to teach middle school students leadership and responsibility through working with their younger counterparts. “One day, you all can be like Terrell and Jacqueline Ashby and travel to State and National chess tournaments,” Ms. Laney encourages the young chess players.

Today the elementary students are competing in an in-house school tournament under the tutelage of their middle school mentors. Chess at Gideon School has become a point of school and community pride as parents and elementary school teachers gather to cheer for their students. “He has a more positive behavior at home,” Eric Horton Sr. said of his son, “chess has improved his overall attitude.” Third-grade teacher Yvette Brown agrees, “The students in chess are more focused and calm during PSSA testing.”

The success of Gideon’s chess program is the result of more than five years of dedication and hard work on the part of Coach Laney, a school secretary who believed in the power of chess to change lives so much that she started with her own chess equipment. “Chess has not only been good for students in the school, but has also taken our students to other places like Chicago and Tennessee for tournaments,” said the veteran chess coach.

Gideon School’s teachers also understand the benefits. “Chess is fabulous!” says third-grade teacher Alysa Conally, “It helps with problem solving, reading and math skills”.

As the tournament winds down, children shake hands and record their outcomes with Ms. Laney. Second-grader Sariah Thomas-Wallace and her opponent are the last to leave their boards after a hard fought match. Although Sariah lost, her enthusiasm for the game is apparent through her beaming smile. She tells her mother, “I want to teach my whole family how to play chess!”