All the Right Moves

[Note: thanks to Sue Katz Miller for drafting this!]

For schools that have a clubs program coordinated by the PTA, contact the PTA President or Clubs Liaison for help. For schools that have clubs coordinated by staff (often Title I schools) contact the Principal to find out who coordinates clubs.

Whether they are school staff or a PTA volunteer, the clubs liaison should help you with the following:

1. Announce the club through morning announcements, PTA/school newsletter, and a flyer (preferably translated into Spanish and/or French and Amharek depending on your school community).
2. Distribute a sign up form for students.*  It will need to get distributed at least two weeks ahead of the club start time in order to get signed permission forms back from kids. Sometimes the PTA runs a single sign-up form with multiple club options on it.
3. Reserve a room in the school.
4. Plan for snacks.  Match the students who turn in forms to the number of open slots and determine if you have taken in enough money to cover snacks etc.There should always be an option on the sign-up marked "I can't pay the fee" and one marked "here's $5 extra to cover those who cannot pay."**
   
5. Produce a list of parent emergency phones and emails that you will have with you at each session. This is particularly important to call parents who do not pick their kids up on time -- because you will need to wait with the kids until their parents show up.
6. Email parents in the class to introduce yourself and seek help in providing snacks, unless you're willing to do this yourself each week (less work to do it yourself in some ways).
   
7. Communicate with school staff about snack policies (what and where they can eat). Generally, you want to get stuff that doesn't leave crumbs (apple slices, not popcorn). Be sure to note any allergies; seek notification of allergies on the club sign-up form if you conduct signups separately from the PTA.
8. Make friends with the teacher whose classroom you are using, and be sure to leave everything in perfect order. Do not under any circumstances allow students to touch classroom materials. Leaving behind a mess can cause you to lose your space and even end the program.
9. You will also need to have your parent group email list to communicate with parents/guardians about chess tournaments and open play opportunities.

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* While it's best and easiest to coordinate with the school PTA's (or administration's) after school club signup process, ATRM.org will develop a simple signup form for this purpose; watch this post for a link.
** There may be an issue with snack fees under a new MCPS fee policy.  We'll look into this.

Thanks to Pyramid Atlantic community arts store ArtSpring
for the use of their site as a training area!

"All the Right Moves" chess activist Fernando Moreno held several training sessions on Saturday, showing parents and other interested people his manual and the supplies available for anyone willing and able to lead chess clubs in Montgomery County schools.

Meanwhile, dozens of kids and adults participated in another "open chess" event hosted by "All the Right Moves" and Downtown Silver Spring on a beautiful day. Senator Jamie Raskin and local chess prodigy James Pinkerton were on hand as well, playing chess matches against young and old challengers alike, and often teaching basics of the game as well.

Because of the generosity of the Montgomery Foundation and an anonymous donor, we can now supply chess sets and instructional materials for up to 25 Montgomery County school clubs.

Below is a photo of a supply box and its contents.

Each box contains chess game supplies...

• Plastic box and lid
• Chess board mats and bagged sets of white and black game pieces (10 sets) (green bags not shown)
  
• Demonstration chess wall board
• Demonstration chess pieces (next photo)

The board shows the positions after 12 moves
of the famous "Opera Game" between Paul Morphy
and two aristocrats, played in Paris in 1858.

... as well as instructional materials:

• Dynamic Chess Lessons (teacher's manual)
• Teaching Life Skills Through Chess: A Guide for Educators and Counselors (by Fernando Moreno)
• "All the Right Moves" Guide to Start a Chess Club notebook (by Fernando Moreno; not shown)
  
• Welcome to the Game of Chess (2)
  
• Welcome to Chess Ideas (2)
  
• Welcome to Checkmate (2)
  
• Chess Poems (for younger students)
• a donation of 3 books to your school library: one of each of the "Welcome" chess manuals
  

These instructional materials come highly recommended by "All the RIght Moves" own Fernando Moreno -- he's used them with great success at Broad Acres Elementary School.    They're written in clear, simple terms that will help anyone of any experience level -- in chess or in the classroom -- be a success in leading a chess club class.

If you're interested in leading a chess club at your child's school, please contact either Thomas Nephew (301-562-9393, thomasn528@prodigy.net) or Fernando Moreno  (240-988-3211, morenofe@aol.com). 

We'll be very happy to check out a supply box like the one above to you for as long as you're active with your school's chess club.  (In the event that you can't continue as a chess club sponsor, coach, or parent, we ask only that you return it to us at the end of the school year or pass it along to another parent and notify us.)

We look forward to hearing from you!