The 2009 U.S. Women’s Championship will take place from October 2-12, 2009 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. The championship will award the winner $15,000, the largest prize in its history, and will have a purse of $64,000. Click here for the full press release.
While the championship chess players took Friday off to rest and relax, two local elementary schools’ 4th grade classes kept the competitive spirit going at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
Fourth-grade students from City Academy in north St. Louis squared off against fourth graders from King of Glory Lutheran School in south St. Louis from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The King of Glory team won and was awarded a trophy.
The children were given a tour of the facility by Matt Lodge of the Chess Club, who also instructed them about tournament etiquette and how to use tournament clocks. The students not only were able to play their games at the U.S. Chess Championship competition tables on the Central West End facility’s second floor, but were allowed to view the action on the closed-circuit televisions at the Chess Club. Each child also was given an official nameplate to use at the tables.
Teacher Anthony Lemons (filling in for teacher and chess tutor Matt Virgil) accompanied five students from City Academy, while six students from King of Glory Lutheran School were joined by teacher Joel Gilbert. Chess Club scholastic director Frank Van Bree filled out the City Academy team so that each child could participate.
All of the students participate in Classroom Chess, a fourth grade through sixth grade curriculum developed by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The students participate in Classroom Chess for one hour each week for nine weeks.
“Chess can be an important tool in helping children grow academically, but it also can be a lot of fun,” said Van Bree. “It was pretty cool to watch these kids playing in their own tournament on the very site where the nation’s best players are competing for the U.S. Chess Championship, and to give them a flavor of that excitement.”
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis wants to provide that a chess curriculum can improve academic performance of students.
Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield celebrated Mother’s Day last weekend at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, the host of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship. She is pictured with Rex, and their eldest son, Randy Sinquefield. Randy is currently filming a documentary about the Championship, scheduled to be released early this summer. (5/14/09) (Betsy Dynako, Official Event Photographer)
Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield will fund $50,000 in scholarships for the first-year of a new joint-degree program in education and business developed by Dean Ellen Harshman and Dr. William Rebore at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University and Teach for America. As many as eight students, most from Teach for America, will earn a master’s in education the first year and an MBA the second. The idea is to develop future principals and superintendents with business savvy.
A total of 19 students throughout Missouri have been awarded prizes in the fourth annual Creating Original Music Project (COMP), a joint venture of the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. A record number of 72 entrants participated in this year’s project, an increase of 38 percent from the 52 entrants in 2008. Winning compositions will be performed at a music festival at the University of Missouri-Columbia on Saturday, April 18, 2009.
“It is exciting and gratifying to see so many talented young musicians in our state participate in this growing competition,” Jeanne Sinquefield said. “Music and art play significant roles in a well-rounded education, and it is rewarding to observe the budding talents of so many gifted children in our state.”
This year’s winners include:
Elementary Song Division
• Hannah McKean, Clark-Vitt Elementary School, Union, first place for the composition All Summer;
• Samantha Keeler, Shepard Blvd. Elementary, Columbia, second place for Heavenly Peace;
• Stephanie Fisher, McKenzie Gourley, Taylor Horne, Chloe Schenewerk, Moreau Heights Elementary, Jefferson City, third place for Story of My Life.
Elementary Instrumental Division
• Jacob Filer, Harrisonville Christian School, Harrisonville, first place for God’s Gift to Us;
• Alice Ann Yu, Mary Paxton Keeley Elementary, Columbia, second place for The Garden Full of Flowers;
• Ilinca Popescu, Shepard Elementary, Columbia, third place for Colornating the Trees.
Middle School Pop Division
• Isaac Baker, Austin Culbertson, Ross Menefee, Nick Roberts, Lange Middle School, Columbia, first place for Trapped;
• Tanner Qualls, home schooled, Lee’s Summit, second place for Seeing for the First Time;
• Megan L. Villanneva, St. Peter’s School, Jefferson City, third place for Our Journey.
Middle School Fine Art
• Daphne Yu, West Junior High School, Columbia, first place for Journey Through the Woods;
• Nicolas Funke, Rockwood South Middle School, Fenton, second place for Highland Rising;
• Julia Martin, Providence Fine Arts Center, third place for Concio’n Para el Dios.
High School Pop Division
• Taylor Qualls, home schooled, Lee’s Summit, first place for Something Has Changed;
• Eric William Geil, home schooled, Grandview, second place for Long Way Home;
• Darion (Myles) Rodney, Central High School, St. Joseph, third place for Surround Me.
High School Sacred Division
• Elizabeth Michelle Martin, Dixon High School, Dixon, first place for God’s Love.
High School Fine Art
• Grant Bradshaw, home schooled, Columbia, first place for String Quartet;
• Alexander Blank, Webster Groves High School, second place for Cuss and Percuss;
• Kevin Hartnett, Lee’s Summit High School, Lee’s Summit, third place for American Sojourn.
Additionally, Stephanie Berg was named winner of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation Prize in Composition at the University of Missouri. Other finalists for the award were Alex Blanton and Tony Hernandez.
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Long-time supporters of Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation, Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield are deeply committed to the children in our community; especially the education of underserved children. Thanks to their generosity, thousands of elementary school aged children have had and continue to have the opportunity to receive faith-based or private school education as recipients of needs based tuition assistance scholarships. Today and Tomorrow is deeply grateful to the Sinquefield’s for partnering with us to provide a brighter future for the children of the city of St. Louis through the gift of education. — Sharon Gerken, Executive Director, Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation
Creating futures filled with hope and opportunity through the gift of educational opportunity for underserved families is of utmost importance to Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield. The impact of Rex and Jeanne’s commitment, dedication and generosity to Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation is immeasurable. The human and financial resources their partnership provides have profoundly impacted Today and Tomorrow’s ability to carry forth our mission during a time when the need and demand has never been greater. — Kevin Short, Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation Board Member, Campaign Chairperson
“Their support of MU is part of their commitment to shaping Missouri’s future.” — Michael O’Brien, University of Missouri Dean of the College Arts and Sciences
“I am grateful for the support of Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield, who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to the arts.” — MU Chancellor Brady Deaton
Young Guns Battle for the U.S. Chess Championship Title, Slay and Associates
Sinquefield’s Give $1 Million to Mizzou, St. Louis Business Journal
Sinquefields Give MU $1 Million, Columbia Tribune
Genius Among Us Documentary Follows High School Composers, Columbia Missourian
Neurofeedback Retrain Brain Waves, Slay and Associates
About Mizzou’s COMP, University of Missouri
Columbia Civic Orchestra to Premier A Work Commissioned by Orchestra and the Sinquefield Family Foundation, Slay and Associates
Sinquefield Prize for Creating Original Music Draws 52 Entries (2008), Slay and Associates
Scouting Posting Mile Markers Along the Gasconade River, News Tribune
In March, Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield made a generous $1 million donation to the University of Missouri’s School of Music to create a new composition program and ensemble. The money will fund eight full scholarships, create a new ensemble, allow the School to hire additional faculty and create other opportunities for aspiring composers and musicians. Below is a video from the press conference, held on the MU campus:
Dr. Jeanne C. Sinquefield and Mr. Rex Sinquefield Gift Announcement from Sinquefieldfamilyfoundation on Vimeo.
In 2008, Randy Sinquefield documented the Creating Original Music Project high school student summer camp, co-hosted by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation and the University of Missouri. His documentary, Genius Among Us, has gone on to win awards and is being shown at film festivals across the country, including the prestigious Lake Arrowhead Film Festival in California. Watch the trailer here:
Living St. Louis profiled the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, following 10-year-old Margaret Hua’s quick rise to chess success. Check it out here: