Page 40 - January 2018

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Strategic move
f cers and students connect through play ng chess
n BY ERIKA WURST
In classrooms all across the City, Chicago Police Officers and students are forging relationships in an unexpected way. By playing chess together, the new friends are breaking down barriers and closing the gap between officer and student.
“People see the police and then see the kids and think they don’t understand each other,” said David Heiser, founder of the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, which runs the Cops & Kids chess program in Chicago’s inner-city districts. “By getting these groups together, students begin to realize that we’re all just people.”
Heiser, a suburban police officer himself, has been pas- sionate about chess his entire life. So when he was looking for a way to give back, it made sense to create a program that combines both of his passions. In the fall, 18 schools partici- pated in the Cops & Kids after-school chess programs, which culminates in a tournament among the schools.
On Dec. 9, more than 100 Chicago Public School students teamed up with their respective district’s officers to host the annual Kids & Cops chess tournament at Chicago Police Headquarters. Students in fifth through twelfth grades com- peted in a three-round format. Heiser said it was important that the officers selected to play alongside the students were
40 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JANUARY 2018
beat cops, not just members of the CAPS program.
“CAPS already does a lot of outreach,” Heiser said. “We wanted to involve beat officers that the kids are most likely
to encounter.”
Some participating officers are new to the game, but that
doesn’t stop them from showing up, creating bonds and learning a thing or two from the students they serve.
“The students have an opportunity to teach the officers, which is a great role reversal,” said Heiser. d