March 25, 2010

Dear City Schools Colleagues, Staff, Partners and Friends,

Some people get excited about the competition on the basketball court during March Madness, but we at Baltimore City Public Schools are excited this month about the thrill of victory in another arena: the chess board. The game of chess requires keen concentration, strategic thinking, a sharp memory—a whole range of skills that our students have in abundance.

This past weekend, dozens of our students proved just how well they’ve honed these skills—and in the process, made us all in City Schools extremely proud. Our students brought home the junior varsity and varsity middle school state titles from the 2010 Maryland Scholastic Chess Championships and won several trophies for second-, third- and fourth-place finishes. Special congratulations go to Cross Country Elementary/Middle School, which won the middle school varsity division and placed second in the junior varsity division; Woodhome Elementary/Middle School, which won the junior varsity middle school division; and Pimlico Elementary/Middle School which placed second in the varsity division.

These titles, coupled with several other top-five finishes, made for a fantastic tournament for City Schools—the result of years of hard efforts. All of this past weekend’s winners are long-time participants in the Baltimore Kids Chess League, one of City Schools’ many great partners that provide rich and important learning opportunities to our students.

Please join me in congratulating our chess champions. And please take a few minutes to read the full story about their phenomenal success this past weekend on www.greatkidsupclose.org, the City Schools web site where you can read about the many great things happening with our students and in our schools every day.

Thank you for all that you do to make successes like this one possible for our students and our schools.

Sincerely,

Andrés A. Alonso, Ed.D.

CEO, Baltimore City Public Schools