San Jose, CA – Adisa Banjoko, founder of the Hip Hop Chess Federation, is bringing the HHCF methodology to this charter middle school in the California Bay Area. Through his position as a chess instructor and physical education teacher, Banjoko plans to teach his students skills and strategies that will not only help them play chess and succeed academically, but to make positive choices in their lives in general. “Teaching chess to kids after age 16 is intervention for a lot of violence,” Banjoko explains. “Chess for kids before or by 13 is prevention. If you get them to understand even these basic ideas, that they have to make sacrifices, weigh risks, and strategize, they’re ahead of the game and start to think about not getting involved with things dealing with gangs and drugs”
After an initial immersion in the process of how the game of chess works, Banjoko will begin to introduce The Art of Learning principles to his students. Through concepts such as Investment in Loss, Using Adversity, and Numbers to Leave Numbers, the students will begin to develop a more resilient and growth oriented relationship to learning and facing challenges. In addition, Banjoko will incorporate these same principles into his physical education instruction so that his students have the opportunity to experience both the physical and intellectual applications of the concepts.