The fourth-grade classroom at Oberlin's Prospect Elementary School is furnished with pint-sized tables and desks. Bulletin boards display student work. Reading, math, and science texts are stacked neatly on book carts and window sills.
It is a common grammar-school environment. But an exceptional kind of learning takes place there after school each Wednesday, when 25 eight-, nine- and 10-year-olds crouch around the tables and ponder oilcloth chessboards while visions of Bobby Fischer dance in their heads.
"See if you can top that!" crows a tow-headed girl as she backs her opponent into a corner, then sits back with a smirk when
he can't.
Members of the Oberlin College Chess Club's outreach program sit at the tiny tables, knees almost touching their chins, coaching the play.
"Do you really want to move there? Look at some other option," one suggests to 9-year-old Alex.
Alex's hand pauses. His dark eyes rove the board and notice the lurking queen. He rubs his chin and switches his knight to another square, one that is safer for him and more threatening to his opponent. "Oh, I'm good," he chortles.
The project began two years ago, when the public schools' academic boosters called on the College for help developing intellectually challenging after-school activities. Associate Dean Suzanne Gay contacted the chess club, which eagerly sent three tutors.
"Chess appeals to all kinds of children at Prospect," says the school's principal, Elaine Carlin. "The game creates a level playing field between ages, genders, and those with differing abilities. Girls are aggressive in their contests with boys, and developmentally handicapped children strong in logic and strategy give gifted students a run for their money." And everyone improves their cognitive skills and general abilities to reason and anticipate.
The Obies, who take the game pretty seriously, can be caught off guard by the kids' exuberance.
"They bounce up and down, and can be very vocal," says Carlin. "Their enthusiasm is amazing."
Tutor Oshon Temple, a sophomore from Queens, New York, can draw on his three years' experience teaching chess to children in Greenwich Village. Chess was a factor in his decision to come to Oberlin. He taught himself to play when he was in the eighth grade, and, in 1996, he tied for second place in the Greater New York Chess Championship. While visiting campus during the All Roads Lead to Oberlin program, Temple happened onto former club officer Tom Wensink '98 conducting a tutoring session, and they hit it off. Upon enrolling, Temple immediately joined the chess club; now he manages the club's after-school program.
"Working with the kids is not a one-way street," says Temple, who is considering a career as a math teacher. "I'm also taught. As I see them thinking, reacting in new ways, I become aware of different learning styles.
"And it's fun for me, too. Sometimes they don't know they're one move, say, from checkmate, and don't realize they can go in for the kill, right now! When you see the light come on and they make the right move, it's great!"
- Back to the ATS January 1999 Table of Contents