Here at Eastlake, many students participate in organizations outside of school to help their communities. One of these many organizations is the Washington Student Led Chess Association (WASLCA). WASLCA is one of 16 other state branches that make up the Student Led Chess Association.
In 2024, I joined Washington Student Led Chess Association with the interest of helping expand chess in Washington State for high schoolers. Every week, I attend meetings with other Eastlake students to plan our monthly tournaments. These meetings include advertising plans for our social media to spread the word about upcoming tournaments. Our team creates flyers which we post around our community and share online. Since I have joined, I have gotten more experience in a variety of topics, ranging from graphic design and making advertisements to public speaking and leadership.
As the Vice President of this non-profit, I am responsible for leading members of our team and helping organize tournaments. Recently, we hosted a tournament near Fall City Library for high schoolers. Students at Eastlake and around the Sammamish area had the opportunity to participate in a 4-round tournament, earning volunteer hours while spending time playing chess.
By providing free access to chess camps and tournaments, WASLCA is encouraging statewide chess participation despite these challenges. As a nonprofit, our organization believes every student deserves the opportunity to pursue their passion for chess. These events help spread awareness about the socioeconomic differences in our community.
Our next monthly tournament will take place at a local KCLS Library, likely Redmond or Fall City Library. There is no participation fee, and anyone regardless of skill level can come to support. It will be our Spring tournament for high school students. This will be an exciting opportunity for students to meet new people with an interest in chess and enjoy a weekend of fun in their community. In addition to tournaments, during the summer, we host summer camps for students interested in learning more about chess.
Eastlake High School has its own chess club which meets every Thursday in D230 after school. If you are interested in joining, it is open to all Eastlake students regardless of experience level. We participate in annual team competitions such as KingCo, and we are preparing to play next year as a team representing Eastlake. If you are interested in joining us and have a passion for chess, you can visit studentledca.org for more information or follow our social media.
