Jeff Bulington had never heard of Franklin County or Meadville almost 10 years ago when he was teaching chess at a school in Memphis.
The former college philosophy instructor, who taught logic at Indiana University and Purdue University, was recruited in May 2015 by a Mississippi philanthropist to move to Meadville — the county seat of rural Franklin County — and run a chess program.
The program, originally known as the Southwest Mississippi Chess Foundation, gave public school students an opportunity to learn the game of chess both in class and during an after-school program.
The philanthropist, who has close ties to Franklin County, funds the entire program and wants to remain anonymous.
Bulington, 58, said, in some ways, he sees the lessons of chess as a cross between academics and sports.
“They don’t need to learn it because they will use chess later in life, but because they might face it on the ball field,” Bulington said.
Today, The Franklin Chess Program has about 100 students from Franklin County Lower Elementary, Franklin County Upper Elementary, Franklin County Middle, and Franklin County High School participating. Bulington said that about 1,000 students have probably participated in the program since its inception.
“The effects of that private donation are priceless,” Lisa Storey, principal of Franklin County High School, said.
Rook to Bishop Four
Can chess improve a student’s analytical skill?
Bulington and school principals say yes. Does the game ensure high grades? Not necessarily.
“There’s an assumption sometimes that students who play chess are straight A students. That’s not the case. But the students in the program are much more aware of their schoolwork and study habits. The chess kids miss a lot of class because of tournaments. I’ve never had one teacher call about a chess student not turning in makeup work as a result. They keep up with their grades. They don’t want to let Dr. B down,” Storey said.
The chess program does have a positive effect on the students who participate, according to local educators.
“It seems clear to me that chess can provide a very rich applied context for complementing various types of school learning, K-12 and beyond. Like other sports and competitive games, it instills a sense that success depends on preparation and the formation of good habits,” Bulington said.
“Because chess requires notation of players (writing down moves) it creates an ideal feedback loop for learning. Students play games, critically review their games, and then test their new understandings in further games. It blurs the distinction between work and play, creating a sense of serious fun.”
Bulington also said chess can highlight evidence of a child’s character, intelligence, and willpower that sometimes go under-noticed by traditional academic testing.
Page Goff, principal of Franklin County Lower Elementary, said she once asked a third grader in the program what it takes to be a good chess player.
“They said you need to be ‘scrappy.’ I love that. And it’s true,” Goff said.
Goff also said she remembers a student who was slacking off in class and on homework.
“But they loved chess. Dr. B worked with the student. All of a sudden, the slacking off stopped, and they were back on track,” Goff said.
It seems clear to me that chess can provide a very rich applied context for complementing various types of school learning, K-12 and beyond. Like other sports and competitive games, it instills a sense that success depends on preparation and the formation of good habits.
Dr. B
Bulington is originally from Toledo, Ohio, but spent his teenage years in a small town in Indiana.
Bulington said he learned the basics of chess in 1972 after he beat his first-grade teacher at checkers.
“One day, she gave the rest of the class some assignment and then told me she wanted to introduce me to another game. That was my first, fast and loose chess lesson,” Bulington said.
Bulington said he became a much better chess player at 14 when he started playing a local farmer.
“One day in church, this farmer stands up and says, ‘Today is a good day for a chess game.’ Then I started playing him,” Bulington said.
Bulington said he and his wife really love living in Franklin County.
“I fit in pretty well here. It’s not so different from the town in Indiana where I spent my teenage years — except that town was only 100 miles from Chicago and this place has better chess,” Bulington said.
Storey said Bulington is always there for the students.
“He’s such a wealth of knowledge. He does everything he can for those kids,” Storey said.
Success
The program has produced state champions and tournament championship teams.
Bulington has now experienced watching one student start in the program when he was in elementary school, and now works alongside him this year as a senior.
Benson Schexnaydre, 18, is a Mississippi state chess champion in both the student and adult categories. He is an assistant coach in the program this year and will be going to college to study mechanical engineering.
Bulington’s teams have traveled to Harvard University, Chicago, and Dallas to participate in chess tournaments – all of it funded by the private donor.
Goff and Storey both said some of the students who went on those trips may never have otherwise left Franklin County.
Bulington said his students will carry the lessons of chess with them into the future.
“Chess can teach you how to be a better coach, teacher, parent, citizen, and how to work on a team,” Bulington said.
Success is defined in myriad ways in our programs. At bottom, it is about students getting what they want from chess. Some want to be chess champions and others are simply attracted to the social learning opportunities it affords them at school, home, and elsewhere.”
