Mary P. Acken John M. Acken, Ph.D. Michael Kalaf III
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Topics for our series: Chess Dinosaurs Drawing Baking cookies Birds Snakes Ultimate |
Learning to Read by Topic: Chess by Mary P. Acken and John M. Acken, Ph.D. with the assistance of Michael K. Kalaf III |
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| Mary P. Acken
The co-author enjoys devoting her time to the education of children. She believes in
education in every life experience. Mary has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Central Florida (UCF).
She homeschooled Michael in his early years, including co-op preschool. She is a mother,
soccer coach, volunteer with organizations for children and a web author. Mary volunteers at
Michael's school to teach science, math and reading. She is a USCF member and a certified chess tournament director.
She taught chess classes in many environments, including a semester long chess enrichment for Seminole County Public Schools in Florida.
Mary has played chess since her older brother, John, taught her when she was five.
Photos: Mary at UCF's Creative School for Children, Chess Enrichment at Evans, human chess! | ||
| John M. Acken, Ph.D. The co-author's daughter, once a chess champion, now prefers reading over chess. John has played in chess tournaments for over 35 years. He played chess in college while getting a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering at OSU. John did not play chess while earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. He is a certified chess tournament director. He is a life member of the United States Chess Federation (USCF). John has taught in many environments. While working as an engineer, he taught company technical and management classes. John has taught electrical engineering classes at Santa Clara University and at OSU-Tulsa. He has taught chess classes, been a chess team coach, played simultaneous chess exhibitions, and tutored many chess students. John has especially enjoyed giving guest lectures on chess at elementary schools. He knows that teaching helps him learn. Both John and Mary believe that learning is a lifetime activity and learning is fun. | ||
| Our Assistant, Michael K. Kalaf III, is a USCF member and has played chess since he was six years old. He enjoys the game and teaching it to his classmates and colleagues. Michael attends John Evans Elementary School. With help from his mother, Michael started a local chess club. He plays chess and assists others during the games. Michael also plays soccer, tennis, baseball, basketball, piano, the CanJoe and video games. Michael can read very well and has helped us to write a book for learning to read. Learning to read is an ongoing process for Michael and all of us. | ||
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