SUCCESS ACADEMY ANNOUNCES 2022 FEINBERG AWARDS — THREE SCHOLARS SELECTED FOR THEIR CHESS PROWESS AND PROGRESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Laura Wilker, 332-895-2237
Laura.Wilker@successacademies.
Ann Powell, 646-894-6407
Ann.Powell@successacademies.
SUCCESS ACADEMY ANNOUNCES 2022 FEINBERG AWARDS — THREE SCHOLARS SELECTED FOR THEIR CHESS PROWESS AND PROGRESS
New York, NY, August 23, 2022 — Checkmate! The 2022 Daniel Feinberg Success in Chess Award Winners are:
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High School: Geah Jean Baptiste, a 12th grader at SA High School of the Liberal Arts-Manhattan who has a rating of 1647 and a 4.0 GPA
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Middle School: Rhyan Grennan, 7th grader at Midtown West Middle School who has a rating of 1687
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Elementary School: Charles Ho, 5th grader at SA Hudson Yards Middle School, who has a rating of 1467
Geah Jean Baptiste, Rhyan Grennan, Charles Ho
Geah will receive a college scholarship totalling $20,000 in acknowledgement of her chess accomplishments. The elementary and middle school awards are a custom chess set and $500 toward private lessons with a grandmaster.
The annual Daniel Feinberg Success in Chess Awards, founded by Dan and Amy Feinberg in 2018, recognize three Success Academy scholars — one each from elementary, middle, and high school — who have demonstrated significant progress in the game. Dr. Daniel Feinberg, a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist, was struck by the quality of the program’s education, which introduces scholars to the game starting in kindergarten.
Approximately 11,000 Success Academy students take chess across 32 schools, and SA employs 30 chess teachers, including grandmaster Michael Rohde and FIDE master Carlos Pujol, both of whom teach at SA Midtown West Middle School. More than 800 SA students are U.S. Chess Federation rated; ensuring these students’ access to tournaments like the Grade Nationals, as well as providing a robust chess curriculum in schools, is fundamental to SA’s mission.
Geah Jean Baptiste has been playing chess at SA since 3rd grade and has played over 160 chess events in her SA career. She has won numerous city, state, and national events including, most recently, a 1st place tie at the NYS Scholastic Chess Championships and a 15th place tie out of 97 players in U1900 at the National High School K-12 Chess Championships. President of the SA HSLA Chess Club with a rating of 1647, Geah has maintained a 4.0 GPA through her first three years of high school.
Rhyan Grennan earned over 500 points of rating growth during School Year 21-22, and participated in 17 chess events last year, taking 9th place in U1700 at the National Middle School (K-8) Chess Championships, and was part of the first place K-6 team at the National Elementary School (K-6) Chess Championships.
Charles Ho started playing chess at SA in Kindergarten, and is currently SA’s top-rated 5th grader. He was introduced to the game by his sister Emery, who also participates in the SA Chess Program, and played 26 chess events in School Year 21-22.
“Playing chess, and all the practice that goes into it, teaches scholars to focus, strategize, and persevere,” said Eva Moskowitz, Founder and CEO of Success Academy. “We are immensely grateful to Dan and Amy Feinberg for their gift, which continues to inspire SA’s talented chess players to reach their full potential.”
About Success Academy
Since its founding in 2006, Success Academy has created the highest-performing public school district in New York state, and a national model of access to excellence for children across all demographics. We currently enroll over 21,000 children in 49 elementary, middle, and high schools. The majority of Success Academy scholars are children of color from low-income households in disadvantaged neighborhoods, admitted through a random public lottery. Our distinctive K-12 approach, designed as a holistic 13-year educational trajectory, leads to student outcomes that outpace even those in affluent suburban schools. To date, 100% of SA’s graduates have been accepted to college, many to highly selective institutions. Most are the first in their families to have the opportunity for higher education. We regularly share our curriculum and methods with educators and school leaders across the country. By scaling excellence and reigniting the civic mission of education, Success Academy is leading a movement to reinvent public education. For more information about Success Academy, go to successacademies.org.
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