LA County kids learn go
Kids in the South Bay of LA are learning Go at their school thanks to new programs from the
American Go Foundation. Librarian Norie Casey wrote to the AGF asking for help in launching a program at the start of the school year. "I became fascinated with the game of Go through the period dramas that I watched, including Captivating the King on Netflix. I was also fascinated that AI engineers had chosen the game of Go to create AlphaGo. I hope that with this game, the students will appreciate and develop their intuition, creative, and strategic thinking,” Casey wrote. The AGF checked the AGA chapters list and emailed local clubs looking for a mentor. Having recently launched a new
program paying teachers to introduce go to kids, they also offered to pay a teacher, and Brent Russell of the Santa Monica Go Club responded. Newly written lessons with audio on the
KidsGoServer (a joint venture between the AGF and
OGS) were also enlisted to help the kids learn.
"One day a week we focus on playing Go," writes Russell. "Usually the kids, Ms. Norie, and I all pair up to play games using the boards and stones provided by the AGF or online using the
Kids Go Server. Sometimes we play a team relay game on a magnetic demonstration board which is quite fun. The other day of the week is a general board game day where the kids can choose from a variety of games. I'm always happy and pleasantly surprised to see a handful of kids reach for and choose to play Go over other games each week. We have also used the lessons on the site to help teach the rules. The kids seemed to enjoy playing on the server with the randomly generated names too."
“You will be glad to see how the students are becoming better players each day,” writes Casey, "some of them even asked Mr. Brent for information on where to purchase the boardgame and the stones. He put together a PDF file for the students. I was also able to buy two sets from the supermarket at the Koreatown in Los Angeles which I showed to the students."