Harlem Children’s Zone Workshop

A big part of the Kasparov Chess Foundation’s goals is to give back to the community. Our projects with chess in the schools, and specially our cooperation with the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) is one of the more rewarding ones. On June 19th KCF President and FIDE Senior Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky conducted the annual workshop for chess coaches at HCZ. It is traditionally scheduled upon conclusion of the school year and before the start of all the HCZ summer camp programs.
The Harlem Children’s Zone, established in the 1990s, has been driven by the belief that the success of our children and the strength of the community go hand in hand. Their needs are inseparable and must be addressed together in order to break the cycle of generational poverty and give our kids a real shot at the American dream. They offer a multitude of programs and training systems to help kids in all aspects of education. We at KCF are delighted to be part of this visionary program.
As one of the most rewarding programs in the KCF aimed for kids in underprivileged communities, the HCZ workshop has been a resounding success since its inception in 2002. The founder of HCZ, Geoffery Canada, and the HCZ Chariman, Stanley Druckenmiller, approached Michael Khodarkovsky to get the program up and running in Harlem. In an annual basis, over 200 kids take a part of the chess workshops. We serve eight locations, including the Promise Academy Charter schools one and two.
A true telltale of the success of the program is in the returning alumni! In the above photo, Christina (next to Michael Khodarkovsky, with cap in hand) and Ruel (second on the right) are alumni of the program and now they are working as chess instructors, sharing their knowledge with the new generation of HCZ students. In the portrait above we see Geoffery Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone.
Our most sincere congratulations to Jabari McGreen (pictured above with KCF’s Curriculum Book) as the newly appointed director of the chess program at HCZ.
Hard at work discussing the curriculum and teaching methods
The curriculum, “Teaching Chess Step by Step”, is aimed at teachers school settings. Volume one is for teachers, focusing on how to teach chess lesson by lesson. Volume two focuses on exercises for kids, relevant to the lessons taught in volume one. Volume three is an accompanying book.
HCZ students have been able to participate at city, state and national championships. A new generation of students is coming in, and we also have a new generation of teachers beginning their chess work at HCZ.
Our curriculum can be found by clicking here.
This entry was posted in news. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.