The Spicewood Elementary Chess Club is a volunteer group run by parents to promote increased knowledge and understanding of the game of chess as an art as well as an intellectual sport. We are a school sponsored club that get all of our funding from the one-time registration fee paid at the beginning of the school year. Through our library of instructional books, videos, and chess publications and special seminars with chess champions and trainers, the Spicewood Elementary Chess Club seeks to foster the development of its Members as chess players and enhance their appreciation of “The Royal Game”. The Chess Club is open to all Spicewood Elementary students K-5, with a special section for Kindergartners.
No previous knowledge of chess is necessary to join – All levels welcome!
The Chess Club meets every Friday morning between 6:35AM and 7:30AM in the school library.
In the recent years, our chess club has enjoyed a large membership with over 150 students enrolled each year. We have many members that train and participate in local, state and national chess tournaments. We strive to work closely with the neighboring scholastic chess clubs including Laurel Mountain Elementary school and Canyon Vista Middle school to foster goodwill as well as help assemble a chess powerhouse for the central Texas region.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about the club, how to join, or suggestions/comments about our website, please contact us at coordinator@spicewoodchess.org or visit our website at spicewoodchess.org
Volunteer Information
We are a strong Chess Club because of dedicated parents who volunteer their time in a multitude of roles. The Spicewood Elementary Chess Club has a number of roles available if you are interested in helping. Here is a list of positions with a brief description of the role and amount of time it takes each week.
- Club Coordinator – Attends all club meetings (1 hour per week), coordinates all events/activities (3-4 hours per week)
- Door Monitor – Stays at the school’s front door for 30 minutes each morning to make sure only chess club students enter. We typically ask each parent to perform this duty twice per school year. (30 minutes twice a year)
- Chess Store Coordinator – Organize helpers, purchase products with Club funds, organize donated gifts and supervise two chess store events per school year (10-20 hours per year)
- Chess Store Helpers – Help run the Chess store twice a school year which takes 30 minutes per event. (30 minutes twice a year)
- Chess Trainer/Coach – Attend Chess Club each week and provide training/lessons/coaching to one of our 4 chess groups. (1 hour each week for club meeting, 1-2 hours each week for planning.)
- Club Meeting Helpers – Attend Chess Club when you can, help setup boards, help clean up after meetings, provide chess help if asked, or if you are able. (1 hour each week for club meeting)
- Website Coordinator – Keep the website running with new posts and news items of interest to the students and parents. (2-3 hours per week)
- Club T-Shirt Coordinator – Organize student tshirt design contest, review entries, choose winning design, coordinate tshirt purchase and distribution to club members and parents. (10-20 hours total per year)
History of the Club
We plan to add more information here about when the Club was started and details about how we have evolved as a Chess Club over the years.
How to Join and Register
At the beginning of each school year, parents are given a registration form to fill out. This form along with their registration fee is given to one of the Club Coordinators. During the year, as new parents/students want to join, they simply fill out the same registration form and pay their registration fee.
List of Current Volunteers
Chess Club Chair
Spicewood Faculty Sponsor
Leadership Team
| Rich Berman | |
| Manisha Gupta | |
| Peter Hardin | |
| Martin LeRoy ---Treasurer | |
| Shanti Ramasamy | |
| Christina Mason | |
Door Monitor Coordinator
Chesskid/Website Coordinator
| Chris Jones | cejones1@gmail.com |
Volunteer Coordinator
Chess Club Shirt Coordinator
Registration/Folders/Google Group
Chess Store/Chess Bucks
| Karen Pavlovic | |
| Terri Schlosser | |
Tournament Coordinators
| Shanti Ramasamy | |
| Yumi Kang | |
| Manisha Gupta | |
