Stillwater Montessori School Seeks Players and Volunteers
09.22.14 The Stillwater Montessori School in Orono is starting the new academic year with a call to chess players, parents and volunteers. Chess will be taught as part of the school curriculum and an after school chess program will be offered on Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. If you need reasons to get involved with the Royal Game read on!
Come out and join the chess team (as a player, parent, coach or volunteer) at Stillwater Montessori School!
Stillwater Montessori School has had a chess club and chess team since 1997 (16 yrs). It has a very successful history. We have numerous trophies from State chess competition in both the Novice and Championship sections. Many SMS students have been the top rated scholastic chess player in the Maine at the Elementary, Middle school and High School levels. The SMS chess club has always been open to the surrounding community as well as those at SMS.
Last year, we had a large number of chess players from the community but not many from our school itself. Many from our elementary students unfortunately dropped out of chess club. Because of this and the fact that a new ruling says that area student chess players can no longer play on our SMS team (only for their own school, even if the school did NOT have a team), for the first time in 16 years SMS did NOT send any chess teams (novice or championship) to the Maine State Chess team Tournament last year. Anyway, this year we want to actively promote chess at Stillwater Montessori School and ask for parent help in doing this. Chess is therefore included in our elementary curriculum at 1:20 p.m. on Fridays. Basic chess will also be introduced in the Primary program. The After-School Chess club starts Weds., Oct. 8th at 3:30 p.m. There will be a sign-up. Why do we think Chess is important?
Why Chess?
Nothing sharpens the mind or breaks down social barriers quite like chess. Chess combines logical, analytical, creative, tactical and strategic thinking while simultaneously promoting conscientious social behavior. Hundreds of studies dating back to the 19th century attest to its benefits. Taken as a whole, these studies demonstrate the uniqueness of chess to positively influence the mental and social spheres like few activities can.
· Chess brings together children of different ages, races and genders.
· Chess leads to increased learning motivation, improved behavior, better self-image, and improved attendance.
· A study of 4,000 Venezuelan students showed that after just 4 months of chess instruction boys and girls significantly raised their IQ scores.
· Chess players utilize right brain functions more often when solving problems. Right brain functions are related to creativity, fostering growth in "outside the box" thinking.
· Chess promotes better memory and better organizational skills.
· In a controlled study done in Germany, a random grouping of first graders given chess instruction for one year out performed the non-chess group by 21.46%.
· The reading performance of 53 elementary school students who participated in a chess program outpaced their peers "significantly."
· Numerous studies of students in the U.S., Russia, China, and elsewhere have proven that young people's ability to focus is sharpened with chess.
· Chess promotes pre-frontal cortex development, which translates to better decisions making in all areas of life.
· Chess is inexpensive to implement and children love it!
