A number of chess team parents were able to
meet yesterday at 4:30. We made the following decisions. There are a
number of places where I ask you to respond. Please read the entire
email.
Tournament Schedule
The chess team will be participating in the
following tournaments. Please put them on your schedule now. Chess club
members: remember, you do not have to be signed up for chess team to be
able to go to tournaments. However, please let me know in which events
you/your child will be participating. It helps me and it helps the
coaches to know who is going, which ultimately helps the kids.
| December
13 |
HSCA -
Willowridge, Fort Bend |
TEAM Tournament
FLIER
WORD document
Sign up for this one through Ms. Jenkinson
at the Chess Club. Please email me before the
Thanksgiving Break if you /your child will be participating, so
we can allocate the kids onto teams. Email me with your child's name
and grade. $9 checks should be made out to T. H. Rogers and turned in
prior to Thanksgiving. Please write your child's name and grade in
the memo. It helps with record keeping.
|
| January
10, 2004 |
Village
School - Optional |
FLIER
WORD document
This is an excellent tournament. If you have the time to go to 2
events in January, please consider this one as well as the Klein
tournament. Note that the cheaper, early entry is due before the kids
get back to school from their Christmas break, January 5th.
|
|
January 24 |
Klein
Winter Scholastic, Klein HS |
FLIER
|
| February
21 |
REGIONAL, Baytown Junior School |
|
| March
27-28 |
TEXAS
SCHOLASTIC, Houston |
Downtown Convention Center Hotel |
May 1
|
HSCA: Klein End-Of-Year
|
|
May 7-9
|
National Junior High, Tucson |
If we have
enough Middle School players who are interested in attending, we will
help get a team and coach to the event.
|
Practice Schedule
Thanksgiving Break
For those who can make it, we have added a
couple of team practices over the Thanksgiving break. Coaches Larry
Englebretson and David John will be working with the team on Monday and
Tuesday mornings, November 24th and 25th, from 9-Noon at the Houston Chess
Club. There will be a fee involved. The rate will depend on the number
of participants, but I don't expect it to be more than about $10 per child
per day. 20 kids will be about the maximum we can work with (10 per
instructor). If chess team members do not fill the sessions, then we will
open it up to non-team members. If you/your child is interested, please
email me right away to assure their place, whether you said something to
me at yesterday's meeting or not.
Again the details are as follows:
Time:
| Monday, November 24th - 9 am to 12 pm (noon) |
| Tuesday, November 25th - 9 am to 12 pm (noon) |
Location:
|
Houston Chess Club
9000 Southwest Freeway
Suite 290
Houston, TX 77074
713-773-CHESS |
Extra Weekly Practice
There is small group
instruction after school on Wednesday and Friday. The classes meet from 3
- 4:30 in the elementary art room with Coach David John. The Wednesday
class is for the upper level students and has grown to 8 participants and
is about the perfect size. With only 4 participants, the Friday class for
lower level players definitely has room for more. The classes started in
early September and run the full semester. We will continue the Wednesday
and Friday classes in the Spring as well. These classes differ from the
regular Tuesday chess club in that there is more instruction and serious
play. If you / your child is interested in participating in either the
Wednesday or Friday class, please let me know. With the semester half
over, we would prorate the fee.
Remember, that we do not want finances to be a barrier to any child's
participation. Financial aid is available to those who need it.
Homework
Only a small percentage of the
team is actually doing the weekly homework assignments. All of the team
should be doing the homework. If you are reading this and are going "what
homework?" you can refresh your memory by reviewing the homework pages on
our web site (www.throgerschess.com
and follow the link to club information) and the previous homework related
email dated 9/22/03 - which is also duplicated on the News page of our web
site. Some of the older students have said they aren't doing it because
they have already completed Bain's Chess Tactics Workbook.
Coach David has agreed to work up some higher level problem sets and
hopefully they will be available starting next week. The game plan is to
have hard copy available at chess club, but to also place the problem sets
online.
Other Chess Instruction
Just so you know, we also
provide chess instruction to grades K-3 once a week during the school
day. Kindergarten gets a half hour lesson with Coach Larry Englebretson
on Tuesday from 1:50 to 2:20 pm. Coach Larry Englebretson and Ms.
Jenkinson both teach first, second and third grade on Friday morning.
Coach Larry works with the more advanced students, Ms. Jenkinson teaches
the kids who are new to the game. We work with second grade from 8:05 am
til 8:45 am, first grade from 8:50 til 9:45 am, and third grade from 9:50
til 10:50 am every Friday. Middle school students have the opportunity to
sign up for Chess as their 8th period enrichment. Both Coaches Larry
Englebretson and David John meet with them on Tuesdays from 2:20 until 3
pm. On Thursdays they play chess in Mr. Fernando's room. Finally, we
have provided each of the rooms that have requested them (and grades K-4
all have) 3 chess sets so that the kids can play chess during center time
or when the weather is bad and they have indoor recess.
Private Lessons
If none of the extra practice sessions work
with your / your child's schedule, you can still consider private
lessons. Both of our Coaches are available to work individually with
children. Their contact information is provided on our web site.
In summary, I expect an email from all of the team members stating whether
you will be attending the following:
- December 13th team tournament
- Thanksgiving practice
Also, email me if you / your child is interested in the Wednesday or
Friday classes.
Thanks for wading through all of this. The team has a lot of potential.
Our goal is to give them the opportunity to develop and pursue their
interests and to have fun doing it.
Martha Jenkinson
|