Nationals and my kids

[kiwinurse]

Good on you Dennis.Shame we couldnt return to those days.Sounded like you had real good strategy.When i was 10 years old i was given the love for checkers by a very talented teacher,who used to have checker matches in his classroom.And i always won them.
I never forgot that growing up,but never went back to checkers for years later,until i took it up on the internet again,and started travelling over to tournaments.You know i contacted that teacher again 40 years later to tell him how hed inspired me ,and what i had been doing with checkers.
He came to visit me and it was so wonderful to see him again after all those years,and he hardly looked any different!He was now a well known artist that sold his landscape paintings.He told me his whole focus on teaching was to get children using their talents that theyd been born with,and he inspired many a child to excell in what they were good at.
Teachers like that are like gold,and i reckon those kids that you challenged Dennis will never forget those times,just as i never forgot.

[MostFamousDane]

Hi Dennis

Nice story - I am left wondering - did any of your kids ever take up serious checkers ie play in a tournament ?
(and who was the kid who beat you)

Greetings!

I was a junior high school math teacher for 22 years before I retired in 2005.

During this time, I used to bring my checker board to after-school dances, which were always held in the school cafeteria. I always had a standing offer in which I would give any student one dollar ($1) for each and every King the student could get against me during the course of a game. For example, if a student were to get 3 Kings against me during a game, the student would get $3.

This used to create a lot of excitement. There was usually a long line of students waiting to play me where my table was set up

I also offered $5 if a student was able to draw me and $10 if a student was able to beat me. Only one student was able to beat me during this time. I made sure I had his name announced on the intercom with congratulations during the home room period the next day.

On these after-school dance days, I made sure my wallet had plenty of one, five, and ten dollar bills. I used to shell out plenty of one dollar bills for the Kings the students would get against me.

During three years of my teaching career, under the leadership of one principal, we used to have a "fun class" day one a month, in which each teacher used to teach the "fun class" of their choice during the last period of the day. Students were allowed to sign up for any "fun class" they wanted.

My "fun class" was checkers. I used to make copies of stroke problems from Elam's Checker Board and teach them the basic strategies for solving them. I also taught them other elementary strategies, such as moving your pieces toward the center of the board and keeping them consolidated.

Afterwards, I would let the students pair off and play each other, as I would walk around the room and offer pointers. This turned out to be one of the most popular "fun classes" at the school. Some students had to be turned away because these classes would become filled so quickly.

The biggest challenge for me was to teach the students the rules of "straight" checkers. Many of my students were used to playing with flying Kings and single pieces jumping backwards.

I also insisted upon "straight" checker rules during the after-school dances. Otherwise, I would have gone broke, lol. I'm terrible at that style of play.

I miss those days. They were a lot of fun.

Dennis Cayton