In Fall 2012, I got a call from Eska, the founder of Bi Mongol School/Ger Youth Center, proposing an idea of opening up a chess club at the Ger Youth Center. Although I didn't have much experience of teaching chess at that time, saying yes was one of the best decisions I've made.
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| Celebrating a successful fall semester, 2012 |
I started off with less than ten students in 2012. After two years, my enrollment skyrocketed over fifty. While I was thrilled with rapid expansion of my program, my goal was to create competitive chess club in the state and nationwide. Over the years, I carefully developed my own curriculum and assignments, as well as organized and directed many our own scholastic tournaments.
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| First Ger Youth Center Scholastic Chess Tournament, 2013 |
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| Tournament Director, coach Doyle and Enkhjin, 2013 First Ger Youth Center Quad |
Our Star Student Enkhjin Gomboluudev broke USCF 1100 at 2013 Ger Youth
Center Quad. Couple years later she became one of the top girls in your
her age in the country.
Every new beginning of school year, we have parents and coaches meeting to plan ahead our goals and expectations. I was pleased to see another great number of enrollment and commitments.
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| Fall 2014, Coach Uyanga, getting ready start a new school year! |
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| Advanced class, 2014 |
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| Beginner class, 2015 |
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| Beginner class, 2015 |
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| Lecture time! |
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| During lecture, students are expected to give their all focus and attention. Intermediate -1 class, 2015 |
Every semester, based on students performance - attendance, answering questions during lecture, homework and tournament results - I reward the best student of the year.
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| Star Student, Advanced class 2015 |
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| Star Student, Intermediate - 2 class, 2015 |
Soon, I started accepting 4-year-olds in my program. Usually, 4 is little too young to start playing chess, but it's the best age to start. As a coach, there's nothing more rewarding to see your 4-year-old student checkmates her opponent.
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| Our Kindergarden team receiving an award at the CA state championship, Photo by Dr. Kirshner |
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As a part of Ger Youth Center, I also volunteer events at the school to
support our community. Over the last 6 years, running the chess club
wasn't the only fun, It was the community that welcomed me and helped me
grow tremendously personally and professionally.
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| Ger Youth Center, Mongolian Treasure, 2015 |
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| Mongolian Pride, Bi Mongol School/Ger Youth Center |
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| Mongolian Pride fundraising event, Bi Mongol School/Ger Youth Center |
For the recognition of the contribution for children's development, I
was awarded "Success Bronze Medal" from Mongolian Youth Federation. I
was thrilled to be recognized for my hard work and dedication towards
educating children. I'm very grateful for the nomination by Ger
Youth Center community for this award. This achievement provided more encouragement to
further expand my program.
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| Receiving an award from Mongolian Youth Federation through Consulate General of Mongolia |
In 2016, I focused more on organizing and directing our own tournaments and training my students at the state and national championships.
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| Ger Youth Center, Winter Quad 2016 |
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| Tournament Director, Coach Uyanga, Ger Youth Center, Winter Quad 2016 |
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| Ger Youth Center, Winter Quad 2016 |
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| Ger Youth Center, Winter Quad 2016, Photo by Ganchimeg |
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| Ger Youth Center, Winter Quad 2016, Photo by Ganchimeg |
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| Ger Youth Center, Winter Quad 2016, Photo by Ganchimeg |
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| Ger Youth Center, Spring Swiss 2016 |
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| Ger Youth Center, Spring Swiss 2016 |
In 2017, I was attending UC Berkeley full-time. However, I still managed to continue teaching quite a bit. Despite the full course load at Cal, I insisted giving up on my program, which I built from the scratch.
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| Fall 2017 |
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| Intermediate - 2 class in action, tournament game |
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| Student's homework |
One of the most unforgettable moments was that my students used to bug me for giving them more homework. They loved doing puzzles. it used to take me about three hours to just correct all their homework and give them their earned points.
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| Intermediate - 1 class, 2017 |
Another rewarding aspect of teaching at Ger Youth Center was that the participation for girls were incredible in my program. This is not girls' class (picture above). This is just my regular class, just happens to have all girls. As a female chess player, I'm keen to promote chess among girls. I was flattered to see in my whole program almost majority of my students were girls.
At the end of the each semester, I love giving out gifts. Whoever has the most points earned during the semester gets to pick first. It's a fun way to end the semester and to celebrate all the hard work.
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| End of semester awards |
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| Intermediate - 1 class excited for the award ceremony |
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| The trophy is awarded for the tournament winner! |
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| Beginner class received their awards |
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| Intermediate class |
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| Advanced class |
2017 was unfortunately the end of my journey with Ger Youth Center. Before I leave the Bay Area community in 2018, I was invited to give a talk at the "Mongolian Pride - 5" annual fundraising event. It was my honor to be up there on the stage as I shared my thought and experiences over the last 6 years. Looking back, Ger Youth Center was like a family. I'll miss my dear fellow teachers, coworkers, staff, parents and my loving students.
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| November 2018, Mongolian Pride -5, Ger Youth Center |
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| with Eska, the President of Bi Mongol School, November 2018, Mongolian Pride -5, Ger Youth Center |
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| November 2018, Mongolian Pride -5, Ger Youth Center |
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