Chess tournament at Anderson school a success
By Liz Carey
Friday, April 17, 2009
Anderson Independent Mail – Anderson, SC, USA
If anyone wanted proof that chess can turn people’s lives around, it could be found Friday at the Westside High School media center.
Nine members of the Anderson County Alternative School chess team met members of the chess clubs from T. L. Hanna and Westside high schools in Anderson at the first Anderson County Scholastic Chess Tournament.
Initiated by the Alternative School, the tournament was an offshoot of the school’s chess program. It’s a program, organizers said, that helps students at the school learn about discipline and self-control.
And it has worked.
“I used to jump up and down and scream and stuff when I’d get mad,” said Bosky Todd, 17, of Westside. “But now, when I lose, I’m just frustrated and stressed. Now if I get angry and need to yell, I’ll go outside.”
Todd was in the Alternative School last year when he was introduced to the chess program.
“It’s helped me learn discipline and self-control,” he said. “Now I really try to think things through and figure out why someone did something instead of jumping to conclusions.”
Preston Hill, 14, an Alternative School student, was the highest-scoring member of the school’s team for the tournament. He sat preoccupied at one of the empty chess tables during the playoffs for second and third places.
Here is the full article.
Nice report.