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Betty Hamkin, 85, plays against a Shrine Catholic High School chess team member. Although the senior citizens aren't quite as good as the students, they don't concede that point easily. Some have been studying the game.Learning
Weekly chess games bridge age gap
Students at Royal Oak's Shrine Catholic High visit retirement home to play against senior citizens.
Violet Clark, 93, with Shrine student Steve Yim, plays chess with the high school students each week. The former teacher says she has always wanted to play chess and finally got the chance to learn.
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ROYAL OAK -- Helen Holley looks forward to each Wednesday when the Shrine Catholic High School Chess Club stops by for a game.
The former piano teacher, who lives in a retirement home near the high school, played chess when she was younger. She got away from the game as she got older but now plays every Wednesday against the Shrine students.
"It makes you think a little bit," Holley said. "It makes your brain work a little bit, which is good for us. Even when you get older, you need to think a little bit."
That's one of the things Chris McDonald was hoping this little experiment would accomplish.
The physics and biology teacher at Shrine High School is also the moderator of its Chess Club. He started the retirement home chess games at the beginning of this school year.
Now, each Wednesday, around seven students from all grades at Shrine go to the retirement home to play chess against the senior citizens after school.
It's something a lot of his students look forward to.
They enjoy it not just because it helps satisfy the school's community service requirement but because it lets them interact with some people who can teach them a thing or two.
"It's an attempt to bridge some generation gaps," McDonald said. "It's a common medium."
The students and senior citizens will play for one to two hours. McDonald said they often get so into the games that he has to remind his students that they have other places to be.
"I actually have to say, 'Guys, you need to go home to your parents now,'" McDonald said. "You have homework to do."
Dan Wallace is one of those students. The 17-year-old Shrine senior has been playing chess since the fourth grade because it was something he and his friends did to "pass the time at school."
Wallace, now president of the Chess Club, plays just about every day with friends and family. He looks forward to going to the retirement home.
"This is one of those things where you get to do community service and not dread doing it," Wallace said.
For him, one of the most interesting parts is listening to the senior citizens' stories.
He has played against people who have taught in West Germany during the Cold War and have lived through other intriguing events.
Wallace and the other students, such as Brad Martens, also enjoy teaching the seniors the game. Martens, 17, has attended all of the sessions.
The senior at Shrine loves the strategy and number of possibilities in chess.
He also enjoys teaching the senior citizens about the game and how to be competitive about it.
"They're a lot better now than during the first day," Martens said.
They've also become competitive. Although the senior citizens aren't quite as good as the students, they don't concede that point easily. Some have been studying the game, even buying chess books to improve their play.
Violet Clark, 93, looks forward to playing with the high school students each week.
The former teacher has always wanted to learn how to play chess and finally got the chance to do so this year.
She enjoys the competitiveness and how it helps her improve her memory. To her, chess is a game that's all about learning.
She said the trick for her to retain it all is to live and learn by playing the game.
"Every time, I learn something new," Clark said. "There are a lot of clever plays."
Jon Zemke is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.
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