Benefits
Mentoring really is something that can benefit everyone. As well as helping the mentee develop and advance through their life and career, the mentor can gain extra skills and understanding from the partnership.
Chess for Youth Membership
Particularly in schools and neighborhoods where few good after-school alternatives are available, the Newark Chess Club provides a safe, social setting that is ideal for the full realization of chess educational and developmental benefits.
Chess instructors and mentors may be the first adults the children have known who are consistently encouraging and supportive of their efforts to succeed academically and socially. Because the club incorporates a mentorship aspect, many students and their instructors and/or mentors have the ability to develop a strong bond, which is an immeasurable benefit of the program.
The Chess Mentorship Program invites Newark-based middle school children to sign up as mentees for free weekly chess mentorship classes held on Saturdays. The Saturday sessions include a group chess lesson facilitated by a professional chess instructor, a modest lunch, group educational and empowerment activities and a chess game with a mentor.
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“Chess is a great tool for improving strategic and analytical thinking. We find that our youth participants love learning how to play chess in a healthy competitive environment among peers and volunteer mentors. Our volunteer mentors come from diverse backgrounds and include teachers, artists, engineers, attorneys, and others dedicated to chess, and youth-empowerment.”
Our program needs you. We are constantly welcoming mentors into our program. The commitment is small but the impact is great. We ask mentors to play chess with a child at any one of our locations for one hour per week. This means you! You are welcome to join us! Just show up, play chess, and talk to a child about life. That’s it! “