I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your generous support of the First Move program at our school, Stevens Elementary. Our school is a unique place that meets the educational and social needs of a variety of students ranging from ELL (English as Learned Language), to EBD (Emotionally/Behavioral Disability), to Special Education Resource students, to Advanced Learners (Gifted), to our general education learners.

We are beginning our fourth year with the First Move program, and I remain as excited with the actual results of the program as I was with the promised results when we were first considering adopting the program.

At our school, all second and third graders learn chess with the terrific First Move program. It is easy to use and satisfying for all student players whether they are beginners or have had several years of chess experience. The First Move program teaches sportsmanship, strategy, and provides our diverse population with a common language to build relationships with their classmates.

In addition, I have seen an increase in critical thinking skills, algebraic sense, and problem-solving in my second graders. Finally, I have seen the program “speak” to some students who have had difficulty discovering the joy of learning in some of the more traditional modes of reading, writing, science, or mathematics. Once these students are “hooked,” they are more willing to attempt other academic risks and their sense of accomplishment, their test scores, and even their very attitude towards learning can transform.

The First Move program seriously “works” and it works for all kids, all levels of experience, and all backgrounds. It helps children learn to play chess and find success using real strategy. Further, it helps them to learn from their mistakes or losses and it motivates them to succeed as scholars. Your support of the First Move program has made genuine impacts on my students and their academics. Your support enriches our learning with the tools we gain from chess.

Regardless of our economic, social, or cultural background, regardless of our unique learning needs or experiences, Stevens second and third graders share the common experience of chess. It is chess that gives us yet another tool to build a sense of purposeful learning, achievement, and community. The First Move program has been, and will be, an important component of our successful school environment.

Again, thank you for your support.
Mr. Peterson

Thank you so much for your generous donation to help support the First Move chess program at William Howard Taft Elementary in Boise, Idaho. We have found this program to be extremely beneficial for both our students and our parents.

Over eighty-two percent of the students at W. H. Taft are on free and reduced-priced lunch. At the beginning of the 2008-09 school year W. H. Taft became an ELL site with 55 new students from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently Taft has 89 ELL students (26% of the student population). High poverty is just one factor that affects these children’s ability to achieve. Other factors include the fact that many of them move 2-3 times during the school year, that they are being raised in single parents homes, and many of the “new Americans” are not literate in their first language.

Providing children of poverty with creative and challenging social experiences is critical. Their parents do not have the time or the finances to expose their children to extra curricular activities such as chess, dance, gymnastics, swimming, etc. The First Move program provides an avenue for the school to expose our students to a challenging game that requires concentration, cooperation, patience, problem solving and higher level thinking skills. These skills are critical in helping students prepare for career and college.

We expected our students to teach the chess skills to their parents. We felt that this was a wonderful way to engage and encourage our families to interact at home through a challenging game that encourages patience and persistence.

Because the program was so well structure, the teachers felt very positive about the implementation process and the results. Parents become active participants with their students. Students became independent in their ability to play chess and really looked forward to it every Friday.

According to Mr. Hamlin, 2nd grade teacher, his students felt that the program “was awesome and a lot of fun!” “Chess really teaches us problem solving!”

Thank you all for your generous donations!

Ms. Jeppson writes, “I showed my class how to play online chess and as soon as Jimmy arrived home, he asked if he could sign in and play chess. His mom called me to tell me how excited he was to be able to play at home!”

Jimmy is a wonderful student and a great partner to have in a game of chess. His enthusiasm for chess is contagious in the classroom!

Your combined donations provided a chess class for Ms. Jeppson’s class in Bloomfield, Michigan for a full year! Thank you all for your support. Special thanks to Fawn (10 students!) and Bill (4 students!).

Thank you so much for donating money to help us learn chess. As a student, I have learned a lot about chess and now chess is one of my favorite games. Chess is really fun once you know how to play and I look forward to learning a lot more about the game next year. To me some of the moves are complicated, and they make you think really hard. I have my First Move chess board and pieces at home and I am always excited to play a game of chess.

Thank you so much Richard for your donation of a year of chess for our class.  I know I really appreciate your gift as well as others in my class.  Your friend, a 2nd grader at Northwest Elementary

First Move would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generous donation and support of the First Move Chess Program. Through this program, our children are learning problem solving strategies and higher level thinking skills that can be utilized now and throughout the children’s lives. Chess is an easy way to teach these students difficult strategies in a fun way. It’s amazing how fast they learn each strategy and put it to use on the chessboard.

Thank you so much Ralph for your generosity in supporting a year of chess for a class! Our sincere gratitude, The 2nd Grade Teaching Staff

Ms. Morgan writes:

“Thank you for chipping in some of your hard earned money so that students can have the opportunity to learn the game of chess. First Move is a fantastic program that provides teachers like me the resources to present this in our classrooms. With the Year 1 curriculum, I can teach my second grade class chess basics. They have a blast watching the Chess Lady on the video lessons, and are so excited to learn how each piece moves.

Year 1 has some great lead-up games, so the kids can play before they know the “real” game. There is a lot of research that shows the positive effect chess has on learning. Know that your donation is helping kids learn, and they have fun doing it. Thank you, from the kiddos and from me.”

Thank you all so much for providing this opportunity for Ms. Morgan’s class!