ast week’s campers learned how much fun meeting peers over the chess board should be. Instead of watching others play a sport on television, these students learned to compete with every move they played.
So much of life for this generation involves looking at a screen. There is none of that in chess camp. Our students learn social skills as they develop the ability to think for themselves about the moves they will make in an effort to win.
Chess does not accept Non-Player Characters. Chess players learn what it means to plan ahead. They incorporate general strategic principles into a framework of rules and tactics in order to find ways to win. They see that nothing good comes from giving up and the more effort they put into the activity the better their results.
All players lose about as much as they win. Learning to accept failure is an important skill, and players who can view losses as challenges to overcome have developed a skill they will use throughout life.
By participating in all of our activities in summer camp, the children learn to fully engage their natural talents. They become engaged citizens, avoiding the Non-Player Character label all of us should want to avoid.
