Thank you all so much for supporting Jana’s class through First Move. Jana’s second grade students love the program. She wanted to thank you personally and provided a note, which you can read below:

I wanted to send you a quick note to personally thank you for supporting our First Move Chess Program. Teaching is new for me and so is First Move Program. I have been very impressed with what our students are learning. They get so excited when it is time for chess and always ask to play. The curriculum materials provided by the program are engaging. I am learning so much about the game as an adult! it is fun to watch my students really learn to play. The take home materials are a fantastic way to promote a love of learning and family time together . Thank you!

Rhea, Moria, Corliss, Sean, Sarah, Yasunori, Tripta, and Subash, your support helps these children learn critical thinking and advance math skills during an integral period of growth.

My class absolutely loves to play chess!  Thank you for such a quality step by step program.  I appreciate the age appropriate activities and lessons.  They’re always excited to see chess listed on the daily schedule.  I include a family activity in each week’s homework and have had a number of parents say that they are learning right along with their child.  That says a lot right there!

Thank you again,

Jan Matheny

3^rd Grade

Grass Lake Elementary

I wanted to send you a quick note to personally thank you for supporting our First Move Chess Program.   I am new to teaching and to the First Move Program and have been very impressed with what our students are learning.   They get so excited when it is time for chess.  They always ask me when they can play chess. The curriculum materials are engaging and I am learning so much about the game as an adult and it is fun to watch my students really learn to play. The take home materials are a fantastic way to promote a love of learning and family time together.  I love this.

Thank you,

Jana Lamon

2nd grade teacher

Seattle Public Schools

Thank you so much for this opportunity.  We absolutely “love” the chess! We recently had our annual Family Math & Reading Night & the 2^nd grade used the chess sets as their grade level activity. The activity is to demonstrate how parents can utilize chess to teach reading and math skills while at home.  Everybody enjoyed watching & learning how to play! Thanks again!

Corsair Thurman, Principal

Salk Elementary – Tulsa Public Schools

Thank you so much for supporting the First Move chess program at our school. The students are very enthusiastic about learning to play chess.

Chess gives them a great opportunity to learn skills relating to strategy, cause and effect, and helps them develop focus and perseverance. The curriculum materials are engaging and students really learn to play.

The materials to support students playing at home are very well received by parents and help to promote a healthy school-home connection.

Thank you all for your support of my class!

Kathleen Ablott, Seattle Public Schools

I would like to thank you for supporting our First Move Chess Program. Our district is very fortunate to have chess as an integral part of our curriculum. Your donation helps assure our students that we will be able to continue this fun and challenging way of teaching higher level thinking and problem solving.

Everyday I personally see the positive effects chess has on Brownwood’s students. It teaches sportsmanship, math concepts, reasoning, and many higher level thinking skills. Students on the Northwest campus look at chess as a reward. It is thrilling to see such an excitement for learning.

The skills that chess instills in our students are those that will be needed for success in this advanced educational society. Today’s students are challenged more than ever. Chess gives educators a way to teach children skills that can’t be learned from textbooks alone.

Again, I want to express my appreciation for your generosity and support for chess and the education of our students.

Candace Wilson, Assistant Principal

Northwest Elementary

I want to personally thank you for helping provide the First Move Curriculum at my school and in my classroom.

It is my first year teaching third grade at this school and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my students were ecstatic the first time they had indoor recess this year and could play chess. In other schools, I have never seen kids play chess by choice either because it wasn’t available or they didn’t know how to play.

Even the first day of school, kids were asking me, “When does chess start?” When I did get to do the first chess lesson, students literally squealed with delight as they walked in the door that morning and saw that chess was on the schedule.

When my students are excited about anything curricular I get very happy. To see that they are authentically interested in this game and have the need to learn about special moves, coordinates, and directions is wonderful. This approach to teaching math and life skills is very impactful.

Thank you very much for providing this wonderful part of third grade at Adams Elementary School. I hope it can continue in the future!

K. Anela Deisler

Adams Elementary School

Third Grade

I wanted to say thank you very much for continually supporting our First Move Chess Program. The students always look forward to the chess lesson each week. They are excited about the challenge of learning.

I am currently teaching the first year program to my Second Grade class and they really enjoy it. It helps them with problem solving strategies, decision making, coordinates, and fractional parts. They do not even realize how much they are learning because they are having so much fun! My class has learned all of the pieces and are now going to be able to take home their very own game of First Move Chess, thanks to your donations. They will be able to play at home with their families and friends. One of my own children has completed the First Move Chess Program. He is now in Sixth Grade and has taught his older brother to play also. This has become a family game to play.

I love the fact that everyone can participate in the program and that it is part of my weekly lessons.

Thank you very much for helping keep the program alive at East Elementary School.

Sincerely,

Susanne Guidry

2nd Grade Teacher

East Elementary School, Brownwood ISD

Thanks to all of you for helping provide chess supplies to Dunlap 2^nd and 3^rd graders. The students are very excited about learning new strategic moves that help develop their higher level thinking skills.

Chess is a wonderful opportunity for students to engage and challenge themselves and each other. It strengthens their confidence, social interaction skills, as well as their problem solving skills. Through chess, the students are learning lifelong values and we appreciate your donations greatly!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! The easy teaching manual makes it quite doable! The teachers experience a no stress situation and the students look forward to the chess class with enthusiasm!

My second graders love learning about chess through the First Move curriculum. When it is time for chess, I have a class full of students who are actively engaged and enthusiastic learners. This program does such a great job of introducing each piece slowly and clearly, and the games they use to teach how pieces move are great. The students love receiving their own chess sets. Every year I have students asking me when they will get their own chess set because they know from friends or siblings that they will be receiving one. Also, every year I have at least two students who tell me that they knew a strategy that someone else (an older sibling or parent) didn’t know about – en passant for example. The First Move chess curriculum gives the students a lifelong skill as they also build their skills of problem solving, good sportsmanship, concentration and strategizing. Every Friday, I know I will have students asking “Is it time for chess?” This has been a wonderful motivator in my classroom but best of all, I have enjoyed seeing how all my students are able to be successful at chess.

Thank you,

Susan Behrens

Teacher, Grass Lake School in Kent, WA