Firmly Planted Spotlight: Chess Club - Tom Snyder
In the Spring of 2003 I lost my job as an advertising manager of a local electronics distributor. I needed to find employment to provide for my family. At 55 years old I chose to return to college to become a school teacher.
After seventeen years of public-school teaching, I was told about The Firmly Planted Family Homeschool Resource Center. I had been increasingly discouraged by the trends in public schools. I offered to shadow a tutor at FPHRC for a semester so I could see if FPHRC would be a good fit for me. As a public school teacher I had grown accustomed to daily behavior issues, but what I witnessed at FPHRC were respectful, hardworking children thriving in a Christ centered and truth based environment. I applied to tutor at FPHRC the very next semester.
I led two chess clubs and a sculpture tutorial my first semester at FPHRC. Both chess clubs maxed out within a few hours of registration opening, and a waiting list was started! I quickly began looking for chess tournaments my students could compete in. The first one I found had only 32 students and after meeting with the director, we decided FPHRC would participate in the next tournament. We teamed up to publicize the event more aggressively in Clark County and over 60 students registered! Firmly Planted Family won the team competition, and one of our very own kids won 3rd place overall.
In the summer of 2023, FPHRC moved into a new (and very large) building. I proposed we host our own chess tournament and was enthusiastically supported. Volunteers to help came out of the woodwork! During our first tournament in the fall of 2023 we hosted 102 student competitors and shortly afterward in the beginning of 2024 we hosted over 80 students at our second tournament.
The official FPHRC Chess Club Program was instated and because so many children wanted to be a part of it, four clubs were created to make room for all! My heart burst with joy when my friend pointed out that a ministry had been begun with the FPHRC chess program. For the 2024-25 year we’re planning five chess tournaments and will be hosting three of them at The Firmly Planted Family Homeschool Resource Center. We covet your prayers in this area!
At FPHRC we want our students to grow spiritually so I proposed a “45-Day Gospel Reading Challenge” to encourage students to read their Bibles daily. We’re starting with one chapter a day in the Gospels of Luke and John and made a daily checklist for participants to slip into their Bibles as well as a community chat group for everyone to share what God is speaking to them throughout the challenge. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ, so we’re encouraging everyone to read out loud!
When searching for a new position in my vocation I was once told that I would know when I found it because it would feel like home. Well, I think I have found it at FPHRC.
