Mentoring Chess

Mentoring group organizes chess, checkers tournament
Monday, December 29, 2008
By Claire Cummings

What could be a better face-to-face mentoring opportunity than a good game of chess?

Thomas Burke, an avid chess player and founder of Jackson’s annual Mentoring Awareness March, has organized “Teach a Kid To Play Day,” a free chess and checkers tournament Jan. 10 at Baker College’s Jackson location.

“It was a way to create a one-on-one relationship between an adult and a child,” Burke said.

The event is funded by leftover donations to the march and is presented by the Jackson County Mentoring Collaborative, a group of organizations that work together to coordinate mentoring initiatives throughout the area.

The open tournament is intended to help promote mentoring and give mentors and mentees a fun place to interact with each other, Burke said.

January has been declared Mentoring Month in Michigan.

Burke, 47, who was president of the chess club at Henry Ford High School in Detroit, said he learned to play the game at age 8. He hopes the event will spawn a youth chess club in Jackson.

“I think it’s a good mind game and a good game to learn patience with,” he said.

Here is the full article.