Our mission is to develop the skills and assets of urban and other at-risk youth in Harlem in support of successful educational and health outcomes, which will in turn improve their quality of life. 

We are doing this through a program grounded in the critical thinking skills and discipline inherent in chess and the related skill development that comes with learning this complex game.

Our goal is to create a program with 20-30 participants who will further their involvement with chess and use this towards academic excellence and inspire them to act as positive forces for good citizens among youth.

Based on our experience we anticipate that the program will attract three types of kids,
1.  those who have limited or no experience at chess
2.  those who, thorough in-school programs, have been exposed to the game of chess and
3.  those kids who play chess at the  intermediate and advanced level.
 
This program will address those three levels of participants.  The program will service an estimated thirty children and will conclude with a tournament/competition that offers tangible rewards to the participants.

In that tradition we have initiated the following program at ML KING TOWERS, and are seeking to remunerate instructors who have, since 2018, been offering their skills on a voluntary basis. This initiative uses chess as a tool to positively academic performance, particularly in reading, math and science skillls and develop conflict resolution skills.

This initiative will work with a cross section of Youth involved with the ML KING tower through a holistic chess program, designed, to accomplish those goals and objectives..

The program takes place on Saturdays from 1:00--3:00.