New Chess Team Workshop!

Afterschool, Winter 2020, Grades 1-4
Mondays or Tuesdays from 4:30 - 5:30 pm
January 27th to March 9th

In the spirit of innovating afterschool enrichment, the WNS PA, in partnership with WNS, is proud to offer a new afterschool Chess Team Workshop, designed to introduce our kids to chess in fun and engaging ways. The workshop will be offered for seven weeks, at no cost to WNS families, starting the week of January 27th and ending the week of March 9th. Classes will be held on either Monday or Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 pm.

The class will be organized and taught by Sinan Aral, papa to Kaya in the first grade. Although Sinan is not a grandmaster, he has played chess all his life, is a college professor and has had experience coaching five- and six-year old’s in the local Greenpoint Williamsburg Youth Soccer League (GWYSL) for the last two years.

Kaya has been playing chess since he was ‘lil and Sinan wanted to bring his love of chess to students at WNS as well as to incorporate parent involvement into the afterschool program. This workshop is a trial to gauge the level of interest in chess in the school, in the hopes of expanding it into a full-fledged after school program, with the added possibility of creating a team that plays against other schools in city-wide leagues in the future. The PA and WNS has facilitated similar parent-led activities in the past (i.e. Girl Scouts) and hopes to build a critical mass of support for chess advancement in the school.

The workshop will be free of charge and the Parent Association will provide boards, pieces and instruction, teaching students with story-based lessons, chess puzzles, head to head games and fun stories about kings, queens and knights storming the castles!

Help us gauge the number of people interested in either Monday or Tuesday (from 4:30 - 5:30 pm) so we can choose a time that accommodates the most schedules. The class will be limited to 10 students, so interested families should sign up fast when enrollment opens!