[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheGreen_05232014_4-EdisonChess.mp3|titles= Delaware Public Media's Karl Malgiero discusses the role chess plays at Thomas Edison Charter School.]
Earlier this week, Thomas Edison Charter School held a pep rally, but it wasn’t for a sports team. It was for its chess team.
A four-player Edison team tied for first place out of 600 teams and 2,200 students at the United States Chess Federation National Elementary Chess Championship in Dallas, Texas earlier this month.
Edison was the lone Delaware representative at the tournament, and the win is state’s first at the National Scholastic Chess Championship.
Edison principal Salome Thomas-EL says chess is part of the foundation of his school's learning environment because of the skills and lessons it imparts his students - 95 percent of which live at or below the poverty level.
"Rigor and joy: two things students must experience every day at Thomas Edison and any school where I am. We want students to be challenged, to embrace struggle, enjoy failure - because failure is motivating, success can be paralyzing."
Principal EL, as he's known to his students, adds he hopes winning the state's first ever chess title will inspire other Delaware schools to take up the game and lead to a statewide USCF chess league and tournament.
