Damen Fletcher is the tireless and indefatigable Founder/Executive Director of the Train of Thought Chess Education Program. Armed with a passion for teaching chess and seed money raised by selling his car, Damen Fletcher taught Chess wherever students would listen and learn. In 2006 there were no budgets for Chess Instruction. Fletcher trusted that if he built it they would indeed come.
Nearly a 15 years later ‘they’ have come and keep coming. Train of Thought has serviced over 50,000 children throughout the Los Angeles, Long Beach, Compton, Carson, Inglewood and West Los Angeles areas at over 100 schools. In addition, the Train of Thought Virtual Chess Clubs are growing in popularity.
Fletcher learned the game of chess at age 13 the Summer before going to 9th Grade. He observed profound changes in his own life despite being too young to articulate them. His academic performance went from drive to thrive. From being slightly above average, he graduated High School second in his class. He then went off to Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. Upon his return home from Georgia, he looked to continue the acting and modeling career he’d begun at age 7. Drastic changes to an industry for which he’d been successful sent him to a crossroad of decisions. When answering the question, “What would I do if money were not an issue?…Teach Chess!!!”. The answer was clear and simple.
Fletcher designed a program that innovated traditional pedagogy with progressive and contextual ideas. He approaches and re-approaches students based on the observable and detectable learning styles demonstrated by the students themselves instead of a cookie cutter methodology of sharing information. He optimizes the inherent availability of audio, visual, tactile and kinesthetic learning styles in the game of chess. Like a chef licking a spoon for taste, Fletcher balances the measure of learning styles based upon the needs of the students in the environment, not the presumptive teacher-student role play commonly exercised across traditional subjects.
FWM: When did your train of thought begin that teaching chess would make a difference in the world?
I spent the first 18 years of my life in Compton, California. I grew up in the Luthern Gardens Apartments, a low-income apartment community. I was a young black boy growing up in the hood trying to make something of myself, but I was surrounded by gangs, drugs, and violence on a daily basis. Desperate to keep me from being influenced by my surroundings, my mom worked 2 full-time jobs to send me to a small private middle school in East Los Angeles. I was a pretty good student. I worked hard and my grades were just good enough to make the honor roll.
During the Summer of 1993, I was introduced to chess by my best friend at age 13. Every free moment we had we spent playing chess, every single day, all 4 years of high school! We would get there early so we could get a 2 or 3 games in before school started. Then we would spend another 2 hours playing chess in the library after school. Then I would spend a few more hours playing chess with the older men in my neighborhood, EVERYDAY! School work was a piece of cake for me. I could finish my homework before the teacher finished teaching the lesson. I never studied, yet I scored 80%-90% on tests. And I started using the same thought processes I would use to find good moves in chess to help me navigate around the gangs, drugs, and violence I grew up in.
I went off to college and returned to find out many of my friends had joined gangs, some of them were jobless, homeless, doing drugs, selling drugs, some in prison, some had been shot, and some were not even alive for me to see again.
I wondered what it was. Why did I have such a different outcome than so many of my peers who grew up in the same undesirable circumstances as me. And I realized it was chess!!!
“The Gift of Chess is an Investment that Lasts a Lifetime.” – Damen Fletcher
FMM: Tell us about Train of Thought.
The phrase “train of thought” by definition is simply a line of reasoning. Our program uses chess as a tool to accelerate the development of critical thinking skills. It’s the process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating options and the many consequences you might have to face as a result of each of those choices.Train of Thought also teaches leadership principles through the game. Our goal is to help kids see their potential for greatness, to instill in them the resilience to overcome any challenges, obstacles, or opposition they might encounter, and to help them see the role they play in creating their future self. Since 2006, we’ve partnered with over 100 schools across the U.S. and have taught more than 50,000 kids to play chess.
FMM: “I want to give children something no one can take away.” Explain.
When we teach a child chess, we are instilling values, belief systems, and developing critical thinking skills with a growth mindset. These are things that exist in the mind. When we say “give children something no one can take away,” we are talking about greatness. We believe potential for greatness exists inside every child. We are unlocking that greatness- we are helping children discover the King/Queen inside of themselves.
FMM: How is Train of Thought teaching kids’ leadership?
We teach kids to see the game of chess and themselves through the eyes of a King/Queen. Our students learn the rules that govern the game along with our 12 Core Values, which are the principles that govern all great leaders.
- Confidence
- Courage
- Discipline
- Perseverance
- Compassion
- Humility
- Respect
- Vision
- Creativity
- Integrity
- Leadership
- Patience
Each of the chess pieces is also a reflection of one or more of these principles in the way it operates on the chessboard. And the lessons learned from examining these principles while playing the game are transferable to life.
FMM: Your program includes a variety of learning styles. Tell us more.
We all have preferred learning styles- in fact , theorist Neil Fleming coined it VARK (visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic) as a model of learning; thus at Train of Thought, we use a method we coined- “Say It, Play It, Display It”
- Say It – Auditory
- Play It – Kinesthetic
- Display It – Visual and Reading/Writing
FMM: The holidays are around the corner, why would Train of Thought be a perfect gift for the inquisitive child?
The gift of chess is an investment that lasts a lifetime. There’s a long list of benefits to be gained from the game- a sea of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and critical thinking skills.
FMM: What services do you offer?
For schools, we offer a variety of programs:
- Chess Enrichment
- Chess Intervention
- Chess & Social Emotional Learning
- Chess for Special Needs
- Chess Practice & Play
- Chess Elective (Earn College Credit)
- Self-Paced Chess Curriculum
- Chess Tournaments & Special Events
For parents, we have two options:
- Virtual Chess Clubs
- Private Lessons
FMM: How does chess accelerate cognitive and character development?
Chess should be offered as a part of the curriculum at all schools. There is so much research that shows that chess is a game that accelerates cognitive and character development (Aciego, García, & Betancort, 2012; Bilalic, McLeod, & Gobet, 2007; De Bruin, Kok, Leppink, & Camp, 2014).However, I have seen firsthand what chess can do to strengthen students’ minds. Every state test is ultimately an assessment of a students critical thinking, logical reasoning, deductive reasoning, pattern recognition, memorization, visualization, calculation, and problem solving abilities. Louisiana, for instance, has been one of the lowest performing states on these assessments for decades. I started working with a few of the lowest performing schools in the lowest performing state. Within three years all 3 of those schools became Top Gains Schools, an honor bestowed only upon schools producing the fastest growth in the state. And our numbers were mind blowing, even when compared to other Top Gains Schools.
FMM: Why is Train of Thought one of the greatest gifts to give to a child?
Chess is a gift that is high impact and low cost. It can even be “regifted.” Once someone learns chess, it is something that can continue to be passed on from generation to generation. Like a family heirloom- it’s a gift that keeps on giving.
