One Move at a Time, Debuts with Michael J. Ryan, Mayor of Sunrise [PODCAST]

Welcome to the inaugural edition of "One Move at a Time," the US Chess podcast in which we talk to people and organizations that are advancing the US Chess mission statement of "Empowering people through chess, one move at a time." We are grateful for the sponsorship of US Chess Sales. See the end of this announcement for how you can enter to win a $50 gift certificate to uscfsales.com. This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks to the Honorable Mayor Michael J. Ryan of Sunrise, Florida. Mayor Ryan has been actively using chess as a key city initiative since he took office in 2010. US Chess recognized his efforts by naming Sunrise the Chess City of the Year in 2015. Chess Life magazine has featured Sunrise twice over the years in December 2013 and April 2018. Summary of Sunrise initiatives:

•  Funding of the Pilot Program for America's Foundation for Chess First Move Program, which resulted in the district wide launch across over 100 schools now providing chess instruction for all 2nd and 3rd graders (over 30,000 students);
• Development of City based "Champions of Chess" Tournament for Sunrise students;
• Establishment of free open play for all ages every Saturday at the City Civic Center, where allow players to play and the uninitiated to learn;
• Donation of chess sets to businesses to set up in their establishments;
•  Donation of 20 chess sets to each of the 11 public schools to start after school clubs;
• The creation of the wildly popular annual Chess Calendar -- an annual art contest centered around chess where students compete to be in the calendar;
•  The funding and support of National Scholastic Chess Foundation's innovative community based chess initiative aimed at providing teachers, mentors, parks and rec, children service providers, and parents the chess skills to include chess in their classrooms and in their community and scholastic programs;
•  The development of the Mayor's Chess Challenge, bringing together elected officials and community from throughout Broward county for a fun opportunity to play chess -- which has now been held in Sunrise, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Cooper City and Davie.
•  Installation of chess tables in parks;
• First ever chess match with Sunrise students in England through a cooperative relationship with a chess program in the U.K. and conducted through Skype;
• Development of Community Chess Template distributed to all cities in Broward County providing ideas for developing other chess initiatives in the different cities throughout Broward Count

Our theme music "So Don't I" was composed by Alex King, a National Master who lives in Memphis, Tennessee. To enter our random drawing for a $50 gift certificate to uscfsales.com, send your name and phone number to letters@uschess.org and put One Move at a Time in the subject line. Comments and questions are appreciated. And for more US Chess podcasts, see "Cover Stories with Chess Life" in our podcast category.