The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Chess team brings home championship
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
The Erickson Elementary Chess Team won a divisional state title at the 2007 Annual Elementary/Primary Championships held Feb. 3.
Advertisement
The winning team is just one of four chess teams at the school.
Students Evan Sangster, David Pawlak, Bree Marich and Honour Kelly were members on this championship Kindergarten through fifth grade Reserve Under 500 Team.
To compete in this division, the team's U.S. Chess Federation rating must be below 500. This Erickson team had a rating of 327.5.
There were 64 students, from first to fifth grade, who signed up for chess club this past fall.
From this group, 18 students were chosen to practice and compete for the chess teams. In addition to the four fifth-graders comprising the championship team, other team members included first-grader James Fries, third-graders Owen Strenski, Jaz Edwards, Govit Poochay, Brendan Couch, Hayley Thompson, William Olvera, Taylor Hartman, and Callie Thompson, fourth-graders Noah Boyer and Amanda Ossenheimer, and fifth- graders Steve Reynolds, Shelby Olvera and Sydney Holmes.
Four Erickson students were awarded silver medals at the state tournament in recognition of their individual results; students Jaz Edwards and Bree Marich each had four wins and a tie while Evan Sangster and David Pawlak had four wins and one loss.
The Erickson chess teams and club are supported and funded by parents of the school through its Parent Advisory Board.
The teachers, administration and staff of the school do their part in encouraging and fostering a positive climate for this classic game.
Pete Kudlak, a former Erickson teacher, started the Erickson Chess Club in 1997. Erickson played in its first state tournament the following year.
The team is coached by James Owens, a retired Ypsilanti teacher. David Strenski, a school parent, and John Reynolds, an Ypsilanti High School student, serve as assistants and David Marich is an advisor from the Parent Advisory Board.
East Middle students Brice Marich, Tyler Thompson, and Tyler Garfield aid in the running of the club and with chess team practice.
Additionally, Shakia Williams, an Erickson staff member, Rico Edwards, a high school student, a number of parents and Eastern Michigan University students help manage the chess club sessions.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
