Youth and schools

[kim willis]

We all have been talking about how not many young youth are attending our tournaments. So I really have been working on getting schools involved. Since i have been back I have went and spoke to 3 schools so far. And I have 2 more to visit. These schools have welcomed me into their classes to teach checkers. In one school we had 45 sign up. The others I visted and spoke in a general assembly had almost 100 kids wanting to learn chess and checkers. This school has over 1000 kids. The other one has around half that and I got another 50 or so signed up. So here is what is happening now. On Dec 1st, I will be going to one of the schools and I will be teaching these kids to play competitive. In that week I will plan a schedule to go from school to school. I hope that this grows. For in 2011 these schools will be competing against each other and at the end of the year the top schools will play against each other for rights to hold the Traveling trophy till the following year.
I am truely excited that this is happening in my area. The only problem I have is the equipment for all these schools. That is boards, checkers, clocks, demonstration board, these tools are only a few in my hands. I have figured that I will need at least 300 boards total plus checker sets. This is where we need sponsors for these kids.

Plus parents I have spoken to are interested in seeing these kids go to a Youth nationals next year. So I have my hands really full now. These schools are going to bus the students that stay involved to the Nationals in 2011.

I am hoping this Youth national will be the biggest ever.

kim

[kim willis]

John
Thank you so much for these.

kim

[tommyc]

Fair play to you Kim ,now make sure the boards are numbered,give the kids a chance to get the hang of it. Make it as easy as you can for them to encourage them to stay with you.

[tommyc]

No one agrees??................head in the sand?

[Igor]

Bravo Kim, It is pity that there are so few people in Checkers like You

[jaguar72]

Kim, I just placed an order for two of the Group Checker Sets for you to use. Hopefully the ACF will get my email and send them to you instead of to me.

Kim, I wlll gladly follow John's lead and donate two more of the ACF group checker sets if you will give me an address to which I can have them sent.

Also, I have three new vinyl roll-up chess/checker boards (green/buff with two and one-quarter inch squares) which you are welcome to have.

Thanks!

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[kim willis]

i just want to say i am a little choked up now for the few that has donated these. for I myself could not do this without u all.
I personally want to thank you all . Here is my address

kimberly willis
31 sandstone rd
eldon,mo 65026

my phone number is
573-392-9943
this is if you need to contact me

kim

[jaguar72]

Thanks, Kim...I'll get everything on the way.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Danny_Alvarez]

Kim, I don't know if telling you this is truly necessary (i'm stating the bloody obvious)

But you are truly inspirational....
I cannot make a contribution right now but in a couple of months i will because you've touched me with your hard work.

Regards
D. Alvarez

[jaguar72]

Kim,

You probably know this already, but Dr.Beckwith emailed me to tell me the Group Checker Sets won't be shipped to you until early January...unfortunate timing but the kids could use the intervening time to memorize the numbered board; it's not a bad mental/visualization exercise and it might give tommyc some joy (or maybe not...)... !

Just a thought; probably not a good one.

There you have it.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[kim willis]

I want to tell you all that come the 1st of december I will be teaching these kids. I do have about 25 of the numbered boards and I will use them at each school if I have too. I seem to have more than 45 kids i said for today at my job the principle came in and told me that he had another grade and possibly another 40 to 50 kids along with the first 45 hmmm that is close to 100 kids before I even get there.

I am in shock right now but happy. I just hope that I can get all the schools I have spoken to do this for it would be a dream come true not just for me but for the ACF.


kim

[tommyc]

Kimmy.....your A LEGEND!!!

[kim willis]

To tommy,Danny and all,
I am not thinking of myself here. I can remember back when in Las Vegas we had 45 youth online players come to play in a National Tournament. I thought that was great to see. But threw the years I have watched the youth disappear. That tourney with all those young players and now looking at almost none is heart breaking.

I really started thinking how can we get them back? Good question huh? So i started brainstorming. Thinking of how I as one person could change this. So I started speaking out everyday no matter where I was work or just in a conversation with friends.Trying to get across how a checker game could help children learn, be socialable, or to just interact with others.
I started with schools. I went to many in my area. I remember my daughter came home and said you are asked to come to the school to talk to a class about my adventures. She had made a map with my trips on it and got a A for a grade. She has always thanked me for that. She told me that I was her hero. But I told her i was just her mom. And I was happy she was my daughter.
As I went from school to school I took that map of hers to show teachers, counselors, and principles how what i had started and how it had helped my daughter. I thought this was a tool for getting me in the doors. Which it did. I spoke to many schools about one game i loved. I also told them that if 1 child would want to learn this game that was one seed to the future.
Now I have 3 schools as you have heard i will be planting this seed in hopes that it grows.
It doesn't matter if it is a normal child or a handicapped child or even an adult I will teach the game of checkers to whoever wants to learn it.
Being 53 years old now. Yes I told my age lol. If I take all my free time and go to school to school i will do it. I don't even care if it is only 50 kids or 500 it is just to teach them how I have grown to love this old game.

In my everyday job I have many grandparents come in wanting me to teach their grandkids the game. I speak to many people daily at work. They all want to here about my trips. To them it doesn't really matter how well I did but the stories of the trip and places I have seen.

I just hope that I can open your all eyes and maybe change one person to do the same as I am. You can speak about checkers and slip and checker question in on them and that is a start of that little seed a lesson for them to think about. May want to try it

kim

[tommyc]

Kimmy.................yur still a legend!!!

I can almost touch,feel the "dream", fantastic!!