Tuesday, June 1, 2010

“Kids revel in challenging world of chess” plus 3 more

“Kids revel in challenging world of chess” plus 3 more

Kids revel in challenging world of chess

Posted: 31 May 2010 07:53 PM PDT

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Reinol Diaz Jr. is 13 and has been playing chess since he was 8. He practices every day for two hours with books, his computer, or his dad. He averages 26 competitions a year and so far has accumulated 22 trophies.

``Homework is a major problem in the way of practicing,'' said his dad, Reinol Diaz Sr.

For some kids, it's the baseball diamond. For others, it's the gridiron. But Reinol Jr. is one of hundreds of Miami-Dade Florida kids whose lives revolve around the chessboard.

A hot spot for the knights-and-bishops crowd is Reinol's school, Rockway Middle in Westchester, where Nestor Carrerou teaches an elective chess class and coaches one of the top teams in Florida.

And while skill at chess is unlikely to yield more than a small college scholarship, proponents say the game teaches such important virtues as persistance, problem-solving, confidence, logical reasoning and mental endurance.

Aside from that, players say it's fun.

``Before, when they had problems in school they would come to me and cry,'' said Rosario Diaz, Reinol's mother. ``Now, they have more patience and they do it by themselves.''

Carrerou has been Rockway's chess teacher and coach for the past 10 years, and the Florida Scholastic Chess League named him Scholastic Coach of the Year for the state in 2009. The best players in his classes form a team that competes at the local, state and national level.

This year, the Rockway Royal Knights team competed at the National Junior High (K-9) Championship April 9 through 11. The Knights have already won more than 70 trophies.

``I relate chess to wrestling. There's always a way out. You could be stuck in a move and you can find a way to come out,'' Carrerou said. ``You might want to try something and the guy counters, what do you do? Do you go back? No, you try to figure out some other way. There's always a solution.''

He teaches five chess classes per week to a total of 150 students, of whom 50 make the team. This year though, only 32 of them went to the nationals because of lack of funds for the program.

Carrerou said chess is like the scientific process where the results come from trial-and-error. Students learn patience and discipline, and build confidence that will help them throughout their lives.

``When they are asked, `Why did you get the problem wrong?' Half of the kids ignore it and move on to the next problem,'' Carrerou said. ``These kids go back and figure out what they did wrong, and that's why they get an A in all their tests.''

And most of the kids on the team take the game seriously.

Reinol's mother has helped her son and his younger brother Ryan, 11, compete by buying books and software for practice. Their father also plays with them, and so far, Reinol has won 12 trophies and Ryan four.

Other students on the team have been playing chess since they were as young as 7, like Roger Osorio, now 13.

Roger said he practices five times a week for an hour and a half each day, in addition to studying his recorded games and seven chess books.

Along with his friend Yinan Zhang, 13, Roger takes classes with Blas Lugo, an International Master -- a highly ranked player in chess terms -- and owner of the Miami International Chess Academy, a private chess school that offers after-school instruction in West Miami.

In addition to the once a week classes, Yinan practices an hour every day on the Internet and with five chess books.

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Bergen Classic a win for kids, charities

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 05:27 AM PDT

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The parents brought coolers, the coffee and the doughnuts. The coaches dutifully lugged the equipment bags filled with bats and balls. The kids did the rest and it was baseball the way it ought to be as the Bergen County Charity Classic came to a close on Monday.

The three-day tournament drew 224 youth teams to North Jersey over the Memorial Day weekend, making it the largest field ever in the seven-year history of the event. When it was over, 18 youth teams ranging in age from 8 to 15 had been crowned champion — but the real winners were the charities that would split an estimated $80,000 that had been raised.

"We helped out a lot of people who needed help," said tournament organizer Steve Silberman as he presented a trophy to a winning team from Clarkstown, N.Y., on Monday. "And that's a lot of fun."

The 8-year-olds from the Clarkstown Stars had just beaten a team from the Professional Baseball Institute of Mahwah, 1-0 — a real nail-biter that went down to the last pitch and was played at the Old Mill athletic complex in Woodcliff Lake.

"These are life lessons," said Will Seither, a Ridgewood father whose son, Kevin, had pitched for the losing PBI squad. "The biggest thing an 8-year-old can learn in terms of baseball, is to bounce back from adversity. The more important lesson is that is that we're raising money for other kids who need help, and that's a good thing."

The Bergen County Charity Classic started in 2003, when a group of Bergen County coaches and parents got together to raise money for Ariana Solimando, an Emerson teenager who was paralyzed in a diving accident. What began as a tournament with 22 teams has grown to 10 times that number — and the original beneficiary, the Emerson Disabled Student Athlete Fund, is now one of several charities that receive money. The classic also sets aside $25,000 for student scholarships.

Baseball is often called "The Summer Game." And for the moms, dads, sisters, brothers, grandmas and grandpas who came to the Old Mill complex on Monday, there was no better way to welcome the summer of 2010.

Sharon Carey watched her son, Grant, 9, play five games with the Franklin Lakes War Eagles. The team had rolled over squads from Oakland, Ramsey, Ridgewood and Glen Ridge — and faced a team from Bayonne for the divisional championship Monday afternoon.

"No need to plan anything over the Memorial Day weekend," Carey quipped as she watched Grant bat. "Now through the end of July, it's all baseball."

The War Eagles were the home team and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But Bayonne came storming back, eventually taking a 6-4 lead into the final inning. The War Eagles loaded the bases with one out, then tied the game on an infield force-out.

That brought David Byrnes to the plate. Standing along the left field foul line was his mother, Tracy Byrnes.

"I promised the team I'd wear the War Eagles hat tomorrow if they won," she said.

David, a left-handed hitter, took a hack and sent a pop fly down the left field line. The shortstop turned and angled toward the ball. The third baseman quickly pedaled backwards. The left fielder came running in.

The ball landed between all three. The winning run scored. Davidwas mobbed by his teammates.

"That's my son!" his mother screamed as she hopped up and down.

Today, Tracy Byrnes will be wearing the War Eagles hat, as promised.

E-mail: cowen@northjersey.com

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Families of autistic kids find support at Ocoee gym

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 05:23 AM PDT

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Dominic Roumeliotis is obsessed with rain. He pesters his mom every day, wanting to know if it's going to rain. Dominic, who is autistic, is frightened by the loud claps of thunder and the flashing of lightning.

But despite his obsession — and fears of thunderstorms — Dominic is always ready to head to an Ocoee gym on Tuesday nights. There, he can play basketball, chase other kids, play tag and scoot around on the gym floor.

And no matter how loud he gets, or if he has a meltdown, this is one place where no one will stare at him. Or point at him. Or ask his parents what's wrong with him.

And that, says his mom, Lauri, is the beauty of the program that Jo-Anne Houwers built.

Called the "Autism and Related Disabilities Gym Program," the once-weekly get-together is part gym night, part swim night, and primarily a chance for autistic kids, and other kids with disabilities, to play and shout without feeling self-conscious.

Houwers started the program 10 years ago, when her son, Joey, was 15. Frustrated that Joey, who has autism, had outgrown most of the organized programs for kids with disabilities, she was desperate to find a place for the kids, many of whom live in west Orange County, to exercise and socialize.

"Where are all the 12-year-old boys with autism?" said Houwers, who lives in Winter Garden. "Unfortunately, most of them are at home, watching TV or playing video games."

She came up with an idea — a gym night — and Ocoee Mayor Scott Vandergrift made room for Houwer's group of kids at the city's Beech Recreation Center. Though the center is busy with after-school programs and sports leagues, city staffers give them one hour every Tuesday night. On summer nights, the recreation center lets them have exclusive use of the pool after it closes to the public.

The Tuesday night event has become sacred for dozens of families. And for families touched by autism, whose lives revolve around rituals, this is one ritual they all embrace.

Inside the gym, kids pull out hula hoops, gymnastic mats and zip around the gym floor on scooters. On one end of the gym, a few play basketball, and others are happy to just play tag. One boy laid down on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

About 50 children attend each week, and there are 300 families on Houwers' mailing list. For every kid, it's a safe haven where no one will laugh, no one will point fingers and no one will judge them.

A few weeks ago, Michael Jones, who's 15 and has Asperger's syndrome, played basketball for the first time. For his mom, who was watching from the sidelines, it was a positive step.

"It's wonderful to just be yourself," said Beth Jones, Michael's mom, "even if you're just spinning in a circle for two minutes."

While Houwers started out with one goal — to give the kids some gym time — the program has expanded to include swim lessons. She's currently trying to raise money for another round of swim lessons this summer, plus field trips to the theme parks and music therapy.

And while exercise is great for autistic kids — research shows that exercise improves their sleep and reduces habitual behaviors like slapping and rocking — swim lessons are critical, said Teresa Daly, director of the University of Central Florida's Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.

"Swimming lessons are incredibly important because drowning is the No. 1 cause of death for children with autism," Daly said.

Almost as important is the chance for parents to sit and share their experiences with other parents.

"This is a great place for networking," said Theresa Nachtsheim, of Ocoee, whose 18-year-old son, Alec, has Down syndrome. While the kids play, the parents sit in folding chairs at the gym's edge, talking about school, doctors, even their kids' odd food preferences — the child who will eat only white foods, or the one who takes apart a hot dog and licks the ketchup off the bun before eating it.

"When you try to talk to parents who have typical children, they look at you like you're a Martian," said Beth Jones.

"This is my family," said Lauri Roumeliotis, looking around at the group of parents. So when Dominic misbehaves, she doesn't make him skip the Tuesday night outing. "I cannot take this away because I'm hurting myself, too."

The Autism & Related Disabilities Gym Program, Inc., is held at Jim Beech Recreation Center, 1820 A. D. Mims Road, Ocoee, on Tuesdays from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. For more information, call 407-234-7456.

Linda Shrieves can be reached at lshrieves@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5433.

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Kids with diabetes can get Nintendo points for testing blood sugar

Posted: 31 May 2010 03:01 PM PDT

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"Kids are often resistant to testing because it takes them away from other activities, sets them apart from kids who don't have diabetes. And skin pricking can be a nuisance," says Fran Cogen, director of the Child/Adolescent Diabetes Program at Children's National Medical Center. Cogen says she frequently advises parents to consider incentives such as an iTunes download.

Now there's another incentive: a higher level in Nintendo. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved Bayer HealthCare's Didget, a blood-sugar meter that can connect with the Nintendo DS and DS Lite gaming systems. Kids who test their blood sugar as prescribed by their doctor get access to higher levels in certain games as well as entry into a "diabetes world" where they can communicate with other gamers who have the condition.

The actual meter is no different than most others on the market, and, at about $75, costs about the same. (This doesn't include the Nintendo system, likely to cost more than $100.) Users prick a finger with a lancet and then transfer a drop of blood to a treated test strip. The strip is inserted in the meter, which gives a blood glucose level, enabling caregivers to adjust insulin dosages if necessary.

Cogen and Lori Laffel, head of pediatric diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, caution against punishing children for not testing. They also remind parents not to reward kids for a specific blood glucose level -- other medical factors, such as a cold, could affect that number. The doctors also warn that children shouldn't be allowed to over-test just to earn the incentive. "We want diabetes to fit into a child's life, and not make it an all-consuming activity," Cogen says.

The Didget system appears to answer these concerns. Points are awarded for staying within ranges, not for reaching specific numbers, and no additional points are given after a child has tested four times in a 24-hour period, a common goal set by physicians.

Kritz, a freelance writer, lives in Silver Spring.

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