First Annual District-Wide Girls’ Chess Summit
by Brian Randall
Hall Fletcher Elementary’s Pawnstorm Chess Team invites all kindergarten through 5th grade girls in Asheville City Schools to come play chess at their first annual Girls’ Chess Summit.
The Girls’ Chess Summit will take place at Hall Fletcher Elementary at 60 Ridgelawn Road in West Asheville on Thursday, June 4 from 5-7 p.m. This is a free event. T-shirts will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be provided by Short Street Cakes and Urban Orchard Cider Bar. Image 420 Screen printing and the Yale Alumni Club are also sponsors of this event.
Begun in 2012, the Pawnstorm Chess Team promotes the school’s core values of curiosity, grit, gratitude, optimism, self-control, social intelligence and zest through the game of Chess. Hall Fletcher Elementary has the highest proportion of low-income, special-needs, and minority students of all Asheville schools, so the social and intellectual benefits of chess for children couldn’t be more relevant.
Pawnstorm is seeking strong women in our community to attend this event and serve as mentors, with the goal of empowering self-confidence in girls through chess. Volunteers do not need to be chess experts. The power of chess for children is this: the unexpected experience of being taken seriously by an adult. Sitting at a table with girls, collaborating to solve puzzles and learn strategies is a powerful experience for them.
hallfletcher.ashevillecityschools.net
facebook.com/hallfletcherpawnstorm
