Forming friendships

Student newcomers learn, form friendships through chess
2/22/2008 8:15:45 AM

By Edie Grossfield
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, about a dozen students streamed into the John Adams Middle School Newcomers Center to begin their weekly chess team practice.

At first, the classroom was noisy with conversation. It soon fell quiet, however, as the kids focused on their games.

“Check. Check. Check,” said seventh-grader Jacob Pintos as he countered every move made by fellow seventh-grader William Marquart.
One desk down, sixth-grader Suleeman Alshenaifi watched a couple of other students play.

“It’s a cool game,” said Alshenaifi, a Newcomers student who came to Rochester from Saudi Arabia seven months ago. His family is here while his father receives treatment at Mayo Clinic.

He doesn’t know how long he will be in the United States or whether he will end up staying. In the meantime, living in a new country with a different culture and language is a challenge, and the chess club is making it a little easier for the Saudi boy and immigrants in the Newcomers Center.

About six years ago, the center began incorporating chess-playing into its program. Besides the intellectual benefits of the game, such as concentration and strategic thinking, there are important social payoffs for all of the students, said teacher Cindy Wright-Dellanave.

For kids who recently arrived from Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries, chess is a universal game that gives them a chance to show their intelligence without using language, she said.

The chess team also gives the immigrants an opportunity to practice their English-speaking skills with the mainstream students who, in turn, have the chance to get to know kids from other countries.

“I think the children are learning about each other, too, because they talk about their friendships, they talk about video games, what they like to do, sports,” Wright-Dellanave said.

“You know, it’s a real sincere friendship that develops across the chess board.”

For example, Alshenaifi and another sixth-grader, Sam Lessard, have become friends through the chess team.

“He’s pretty good,” Lessard said of Alshenaifi’s chess skills, adding that he’s learned the game quickly.

Source: Post Bulletin