When people think about chess, they often picture two old men staring at a game board in a park somewhere. But one Harlem teacher is using the game to teach kids "how to think critically and to be creative" and most of all have fun!
The New York Post offers a profile of Harlem charter school teacher Sean O'Hanlon, who encourages socialization skills in kindergartners "who don't always know how to take turns." By the end of the year they know "checkmate is how you end the game" and in fourth grade they learn opening strategies.
Kindergartners up to third-graders take O'Hanlon's chess course once a week, and fourth-graders have a choice between taking chess, art or music four times a week.
O'Hanlon says his classroom is "like a chess nerd's dream," filled with posters showing how the pieces move, pictures of grandmaster Maurice Ashley and the late champ Bobby Fischer.
O'Hanlon was nominated for a Liberty Medal in the Educator category by Harlem Success Academy Principle Jim Manly, who says the father of two has brought teaching chess "to a high-art form."
For more on this story, visit the New York Post.
Harlem Success Academy: 34 W. 118th St. at Lenox Ave.
