Get involved
There are thousands of children around Albuquerque living in poverty. Although their families cannot afford to send them to our chess camp, many of these children would greatly enjoy and benefit from working with Learners Chess Academy:
It would give them a chance to meet, play with, and befriend other kids that they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet.
With the acquisition and practice of thinking skills, children gain an important leg up in terms of approaching an academic workload.
Learning chess gives kids a life long hobby to enjoy.
For older kids, the skills and values of leadership that we instill are invaluable building blocks for them to use going forward.
Although we have worked a small scholarship fund into our business plan, we are still unable to reach many of the less fortunate schools that we'd like to. Therefore, we would like to start a Learners Chess Foundation in New Mexico that would allow us to raise the financial resources necessary to provide more camp and school program scholarships and also to run chess programs at Title 1 schools around the City and State, while it'd also allow us more flexibility in who we recruit to our chess camps.
Also, in the next year or two, we plan to launch a chess coach training and deployment program. We will hire and train chess coaches to run fun and engaging chess clubs in under-performing and disadvantaged schools in Albuquerque. The values added to a school by having a chess club are plentiful: facilitating more friendships, building community, improving student scores, and fostering school pride, leadership, and team camaraderie. Kids who participate regularly in a chess club have more enjoyment, self confidence, and exposure to a structured learning environment.
If you would like to get involved with the formation of this foundation, we need people who are:
Bought in to our mission
Organized
Dedicated
Willing to donate money and time
Good at or at least knowledgeable about the game of chess and its benefits to kids
Knowledgeable about Dr. Yunus' innovative visions of "Social Business"
We have already begun the steps of incorporating a partner non-profit organization for Learners.
Come be a part of something new and impactful!
If you are interested in serving on an exploratory committee or getting involved in any way, please get in touch with Victor at learnerschess@gmail.com.