Chess & Debate: Voices After the Closing Verse
Debate and Chess at City of Fountains School
When the final closing verse of the school day has been spoken, and sunbeams that stretch across pastel walls begin to fade, when the classroom settles gently into rest… life within the school does not end. Instead, it shifts.
What lives so richly within its walls during the school day, imagination, inquiry, connection, begins to take on a new quality: more self-initiated, more discovered, more shared. An extension of the Waldorf day, where students choose to remain, not because they must, but because something in them is still curious, still leaning forward, still stretching toward something more!
At 2:55 pm the students gather their things, and their laughter drifts with them through the hallways as they make their way downstairs toward the Coffee House. The space warms and opens to meet them, their bright faces, their enlivened spirits. Snacks are shared, partnerships and opponents are claimed, and a low hum of conversation rises, threaded with anticipation. The soft placement of chess pieces marks the beginning of something quietly living, something ready to unfold and flourish.
Chess boards are unrolled.
Pieces are set into position.
A question is posed.
An idea begins to take shape!
Here, part gathering place, part workshop of the mind, the process and practice of thinking continues in a more student-led rhythm, shaped by curiosity, initiative, and the natural give-and-take of conversation. The formality and structure of the school day gently open into something more collaborative and more shared.
Thinking becomes visible, in the pause before a move, in the reconsidering of a position, in the shaping of a response. Ideas move between students, across checkered boards and differences of perspective alike. Understanding is built together, through dialogue, challenge, reflection, and discovery.
A pawn advances.
A counterargument forms.
Curiosity leads the way.
And the unfolding into flourishing begins!
Over the past several years, two after-school programs have taken root within the pastel walls of City of Fountains School: the COFS Chess Club and Debate Club. What began with a teacher’s desire to create space for students to gather, think, and challenge themselves, and with the enthusiasm of students eager to participate, alongside the support of dedicated parents and a committed community member who stepped forward to lead, has grown into two thriving and deeply rooted teams, the COFS Chess Team and the COFS Debate Team.
Students now step into regional competitions with confidence, while remaining grounded in something deeper than competition alone: a genuine love of thinking, learning, and engaging with one another as active thoughtful members of their community, and of the wider world they are growing into.
The Quiet Art of Chess
For the past three years, Chess Club has become a steady and meaningful rhythm within the life of the school. Each week, students gather around the boards with a kind of reverence for the game, leaning forward in concentration, eyes scanning the landscape of black and white squares where possibility unfolds with every move. Some sit in stillness, studying. Others rise, circle, return again with a new idea forming.
Chess asks something of the students. Patience. Foresight. The willingness to pause, to reconsider, to see beyond the immediate moment. In the Coffee House, these moments appear quietly, but often. A hand hovers over a piece, then withdraws, a student, Savanna, pauses mid-game, her hand hovering over the board before she slowly pulls it back, a small smile forming as a new possibility reveals itself. Then, a game ends, only to be replayed move by move, both players intent on finding the turning point. A quiet “wait…” escapes from across another table as a strategy begins to reveal itself beneath another student, Forest’s, fingertips.
These afternoons are guided by the steady presence of Mr. Michael, who leads students into the deeper layers of the game, and supported by Ms Kristen, who helps hold the space, playing alongside students, fostering the rhythm of the group, and cultivating the tone of respect and engagement that allows the club to flourish.Together, they have created something more than a program. They have created a place students return to, not out of obligation, but out of genuine investment.That commitment has led to meaningful milestones. Last year, City of Fountains students advanced to the Kansas State Chess Championship, where their performance initially earned first place before a later clarification in tournament rules altered the final standing. This year, they returned once again to the State Championship, continuing to represent the school with focus, resilience, and pride.
Yet beyond recognition or ranking, what matters most unfolds week after week: students learning to think ahead, to recover, to trust their reasoning, and to meet challenges with composure.
Finding One’s Voice
If chess cultivates the discipline of quiet thinking, Debate Club invites students into another essential capacity: the courage to speak.
This year marked the first official season of City of Fountains School’s Middle SChool Debate Team. In the early weeks, students gathered with notebooks open, learning how to shape an idea into an argument. They practiced listening carefully, examining evidence, and engaging with perspectives beyond their own.
At first, some voices were tentative. A sentence began, then paused. A glance downward. A second attempt.But something begins to shift when students are given both the structure and the space to speak, and when they are met with the expectation that their ideas matter.
Under the guidance of Ms Kristen and Debate KC coach Shae Bunis, that shift began to take hold. Arguments became clearer. Responses more precise. Confidence more visible. For Waldorf middle school students, this work meets them at an essential moment in their development, when thinking becomes more independent, more analytical, and more connected to their own emerging sense of truth. Debate offers a place for that thinking to take form, to be tested, and to be expressed.
When the team entered the competitive circuit, they stepped into rooms filled with experienced programs from across the city. And they held their ground. Round after round, City of Fountains School students demonstrated not only preparation, but presence. They listened deeply. They responded thoughtfully. They stood with composure.
By the end of the season, the team advanced to the City Championship Finals, an extraordinary accomplishment for a first-year program. Yet the most meaningful transformations were quieter. A student who once hesitated now speaking with clarity. An argument delivered without notes. A group of students reflecting together after a round, already thinking toward the next. It was something beautiful to witness!
A Community That Makes It Possible
Programs like these do not appear all at once. They are built gradually, through vision, persistence, and the willingness to create something where there was once very little.
They are shaped by educators who hold the structure and continuity. By students who return, week after week, eager to engage. And by families who support in the ways they can, making participation possible, sustaining the effort, and believing in its value.
What has taken root at City of Fountains School is more than a set of after-school offerings. It is a culture, one where students are invited to stretch, to think deeply, and to engage meaningfully with one another.
The Joy of Thinking Together
At its heart, Waldorf education seeks to nurture not only knowledge, but wonder, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning.Chess and Debate Club offer two distinct paths toward that same aim. One asks students to imagine many moves ahead. The other asks them to stand in the present moment and give voice to an idea. Both ask students to think deeply. Both ask them to listen. Both awaken confidence. And perhaps most importantly, both bring students together around the shared experience of discovery.
If you pass by the Coffee House on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday afternoon, you may see it for yourself: A chess match unfolding in quiet concentration. A group preparing for their next round of debate. Laughter rising between games. And somewhere in the room, there’s a guide, leader or teacher listening closely, offering a question at just the right moment, then stepping back as the students carry the thinking forward. In these moments, something meaningful is taking place.Young minds are stretching. Voices are finding strength. A community is growing. And the love of learning continues to unfold and flourish, one thoughtful move, and one courageous argument, at a time.
Enrollment for both Chess Club and Debate Club remains open. To enroll or for more information on how to get involved and or to support the Afterschool Program/Clubs, please reach out to Ms. Kristen at Kristen@cityoffountainsschool.org.
Student Testimonial/Perspective:
I’m Apphia Rye, a sixth grader at City of Fountains School, and I attend our Chess Club. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to write this article. My experience of Chess Club over the years has been a journey of nothing but excitement and learning. Although we have had our bumps in the road, mainly with our school being located in Missouri and wanting to compete as a team at the Kansas State Tournament.
Last year, our team would’ve won first place at the Kansas State Tournament, but we were disqualified as a team because our school is located in Missouri. We were not allowed to compete as a team at the Kansas State Tournament this year, but we continue to improve and hopefully find a way to be able to compete in the future.
Speaking of the Kansas State Tournament, our chess team attended this year's event on Saturday, March 14, despite being unable to compete as a team. Since we all have Kansas addresses we use to qualify for state, we were still able to compete individually, though. The tournament was held at Emporia State University.
Sometimes when I was sitting in the competition room where the chess games were held, I would just look around and think that it’s so amazing that all the people in the room understood this complicated game so well, and that it was so crazy to see so many people there!
It was a long day of competing, including six chess games, and I competed in the K–8 section, which includes 6th to 8th grade and anyone who chooses to play up. Disappointingly, since the K–8 section was so big, reaching 200 people, none of our team members got medals because none of us scored over four points. The good thing is though, that we still had fun, like we do at all of our tournaments.
Over the years, we continue to learn and win team awards, and it’s amazing how far we’ve come. Our chess coach, Michael, has taught us many great things over the years. Even now, we continue to learn things from him and learn from our games and mistakes.
The Chess club continues growing, we gained a few new fourth grade competitors this year, some of which often attend tournaments! Michael focuses on teaching the new members, and has even partnered us with new members to help, and it's a great way to help them continue to improve! Thanks to Michael and my friends, I have learned many openings and strategies to the game of chess. They are very helpful tactics that I am thankful to know. It’s amazing to see how far everyone has come.
I have looked back through my notation book where I find games from last year where I had easily beaten people that are now much better than me. We have all grown and learned so much. As a club, we have come so far. We started as a club in 2023, and now we are a trophy-winning team!
With the help of my friends, parents, and teachers, I’ve come so far as an individual, having joined in third grade, probably never dreaming of going to state or helping my team get trophies. I am so thankful for everyone, especially Michael and Ms. Kristen, who have helped us on this journey.
-Apphia Rye
