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The teachers union is retaliating by cutting after-school programs:-
"The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation is calling on its 60,000 members not to volunteer today for any extracurricular activities such as coaching sports teams."
How will this affect the after-school chess clubs?
Will there still be money in school budgets for chess teachers?
"The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation is calling on its 60,000 members not to volunteer today for any extracurricular activities such as coaching sports teams."
Is it a one-day "strike"?
Reading a today's newspaper: all cities' and towns' mayors should go out and do coaching :D
The teachers union is retaliating by cutting after-school programs:-
"The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation is calling on its 60,000 members not to volunteer today for any extracurricular activities such as coaching sports teams."
How will this affect the after-school chess clubs?
Will there still be money in school budgets for chess teachers?
According to the report I heard, the Federation was recommending teachers take that action, but it is up to each individual teacher to decide how much or how little extracurricular activity to participate in. Most of the teachers I know likely will still volunteer their time because they enjoy the time spent.
Is there currently any money in school budgets for chess teachers? I don't think there is any in Ontario (but I would love to be wrong)
Is there currently any money in school budgets for chess teachers? I don't think there is any in Ontario (but I would love to be wrong)
In Windsor (and across North America apparently) there is a group called Mad Science which teaches science in an entertaining manner in the classroom, after school. They are branching out and offering chess next winter. They offer a six or eight week course of one hour lessons. They are also advertising for instructors but the rate of pay is quite low and there is a requirement that instructors sign a non-compete agreement which is a non-starter as far as I am concerned. Apparently, they signed up quite a few kids, parents and schools at a Windsor area educational expo that they attended recently.
The classes are paid for by parents and the costs are higher than what we typically charge for a class (they charge something like 79 dollars for the six week class if I am reading things correctly). Classes are one hour versus the two or two and a half hours that we typically run (though most of the time is spent playing chess in our case). The instructor that they have apparently won a gold medal at one of the Windsor chess challenges in the distant past. This might put him in the 600 to 1200 CFC rating range judging from our present students who all pretty much won gold as long as they weren't competing with other students from our classes, in which case they usually won silver.
One of my students in the intermediate/beginner class that I teach was wearing a "Mad Science" t-shirt this week so I asked him about them and he said that he liked their science classes.
There is also another group looking to branch out and start up a chess class. They were looking for someone to teach a class on Saturdays. From my point of view that would prevent participation in tournament chess (which might save some money but has the drawback that I really like to play chess). It would also prevent attending the chess tournaments that the Windsor children are playing in whether organized by John Coleman, or in the Detroit area by the Michigan Chess Association or in the rest of Ontario.
Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Wednesday, 12th September, 2012, 11:18 AM.
Reading a today's newspaper: all cities' and towns' mayors should go out and do coaching :D
This sounds like a work-to-rule campaign. A strike would mean cessation of all activities, core and extra-curricular. Work-to-rule means only doing what is contractually required and nothing more.
No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.
Is there currently any money in school budgets for chess teachers? I don't think there is any in Ontario (but I would love to be wrong)
I am glad to please you in confirming that you are wrong :). There has been money for chess teachers in many Ontario french language school boards for several years now. We are talking here about several tens of thousands of dollars to introduce chess to elementary school classes over one or two complete days. Afterwards regular teachers are invited (actually they have to commit to it to get the chess teacher's visit) to follow up on it with the manual and exercice book that I have done last year for that purpose. The english side is simply looking at it with envy when they see how successful it is both with the teachers and the kids (with still a lot of room to grow), but not doing much... ;).
I am glad to please you in confirming that you are wrong :). There has been money for chess teachers in many Ontario french language school boards for several years now. We are talking here about several tens of thousands of dollars to introduce chess to elementary school classes over one or two complete days. Afterwards regular teachers are invited (actually they have to commit to it to get the chess teacher's visit) to follow up on it with the manual and exercice book that I have done last year for that purpose. The english side is simply looking at it with envy when they see how successful it is both with the teachers and the kids (with still a lot of room to grow), but not doing much... ;).
Thanks for the reminder about that - it does ring a bell, but like the French Defence, I just forgot...
I don't know how / what's happening now, but I would think it will definitely affect chess clubs, at least in the public schools. When I went to High School (public) in Toronto, there was one year when all extra-curricular activities were suspended. If I am not mistaken, it would have been 2000-2001. No sports teams, no league competitions, and no chess league. Our school played in a chess league the years before and after that one year. That one year, a few of us students very seldom played chess because there was no club. The two teachers I remember running the chess club and registering us for this High School league, did so voluntarily.
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