Computer Labs for Kids: South Central Los Angeles! End Game!

Prior post on Classes 5 and 6. 
Prior post on Classes 3 and 4.
Prior post on Class 2 and Extra - the Pakistan Project!
Prior post on start of the South Central LA Project.

So much has happened!  Here is Shira Evans' blog on Class 7 along with several pictures of the kids.  Everyone looks extremely happy and having a good time. 

The graduates and Shira (she's the tall one at the end).

Last class - information, review and questions/answers and then it's actually Graduation!  August 17, 2010! 

Here is the most recent - perhaps the last - blog on this project - from August 28, 2010.  A well-deserved and heart-felt tribute to my bud, Shira. 

Probably by now Shira has 100 or more project requests backed up - all needing funding and, of course, needing her time to do it.  She has a job like most of us do, to support herself, so all of the organizing, fund-raising, planning, communications, arranging for volunteers, project support, purchasing, travel arrangements, etc. etc. etc. she does in her "spare" time.  Har! 

And, demon woman that I am about chess, I got her playing chess again - at least, online - and - well, guess what!  Oh, you'll never guess in a million years so I'll tell you - Shira made the August, 2010 USCF Quick Ratings List for Chess Femmes in the USA!  See - I told you she was good...

1 Abrahamyan, Tatev (12851435) CA USA 2220

2 Marinello, Beatriz (12537449) NY USA 2177
3 Ross, Laura R (12630804) NY USA 2156
4 Battsetseg, Tsagaan (12719650) MD USA 2121
5 Melekhina, Alisa (12726115) PA USA 2009
6 Robinson, Darrian (12925651) NY USA 1992
7 Chiang, Sarah (13091081) TX USA 1976
8 Mateer, Amanda Rae (12752032) AZ USA 1972
9 Zhu, Caroline (12888833) TX USA 1964
10 Root, Alexey Wilhelmina (10374651) TX USA 1949
11 Vicary, Elizabeth (12477355) NY USA 1942
12 Kats, Alena (12980885) NY USA 1940
13 Marshall, Abby (12784803) VA USA 1938
14 Tilenbaeva, Janyl (14245930) CA USA 1915
15 Niemi, Nicole (12640884) WI USA 1890
16 Yang, Sylvia Siyuan (12909161) TX USA 1883
17 Jamison, Courtney Nicole (12746751) TX USA 1873
18 Kerr, Julia K (12696374) NY USA 1868
19 Zhurbinskiy, Eve D (12878963) NJ USA 1858
20 Matlin, Anna R (12876169) NJ USA 1854
21 Peters, Epiphany M (12937939) MI USA 1846
Acon, Jennifer C (13313093) CA USA 1846
23 Litvak, Eve V (12799901) NJ USA 1841
24 Kennedy, Shernaz (11322000) NY USA 1838
25 Lelko, Rebecca A (12851444) OH USA 1832
26 Skidmore, Jennifer M (12457851) MI USA 1820
27 Wong, Kinsleigh (13314143) AZ USA 1817
28 Dai, Yang (12897613) VA USA 1814
29 Katz, Alanna (12621290) NY USA 1800
30 Liao, Simone (13228302) CA USA 1795
31 Ginzburg, Anna (12758604) NY USA 1790
32 Datta, Anjali (12783131) TX USA 1779
33 Diaz, Linda V (12908194) NY USA 1776
34 Xiang, Ellen (21029572) TX USA 1775
35 Christiansen, Natasha C (11366805) MA USA 1772
36 Flewelling, Heather (12605124) HI USA 1753
Mcgrew, Bethel (12842583) MI USA 1753
38 Goodkind, Lauren (12778910) CA USA 1744
39 Ferguson, Tamara (12778340) PA USA 1739
40 Venkataraman, Madhumitha (12911395) TX USA 1730
Xu, Yue (13533641) IL USA 1730
42 Goodkind, Barbara (12778604) CA USA 1728
Dong, Alice (13398051) NJ USA 1728
44 Munoz, Claudia E (13481236) TX USA 1720
45 Jones, Julia E (12811694) TX USA 1709
46 Bohannon, Angel (12782586) TX USA 1700
47 Liu, Rebekah (12933645) CA USA 1695
48 Poteat, Lilia Meilan (12920065) NY USA 1694
49 Chen, Jasmine (13217481) NY USA 1675
50 Koong, Joanne (13136738) CA USA 1673
51 Xiang, Evan (12966415) TX USA 1670
52 Francis, Emily (12800537) GA USA 1667
53 Liu, Hannah (13466272) TX USA 1665
54 Foley, Sayaka B (12918743) AZ USA 1656
55 Sobel, Simone (12607573) CA USA 1655
56 Alarie, Donna (12447542) MA USA 1651
Hua, Margaret M (13289400) MO USA 1651
58 Kormanik, Katharine (12641476) UT USA 1643
59 Evans, Shira L (12653192) CA USA 1640
Murra, Mayra (12880265) CA USA 1640
61 Chen, Michelle Xueying (12918779) MA USA 1634
62 O'Neill, Julie Anne (10457262) TX USA 1627
63 Carson, Anthea J (12614322) CO USA 1625
64 Walsh, Sara R (12457717) NC USA 1624
65 Regam, Jessica Shor (13467370) PA USA 1622
66 Vohra, Sonya (12902778) IL USA 1620
67 Wright, Polly P (11041957) NY USA 1618
68 Hung, Charlina (12878777) TX USA 1616
69 Karamsetty, Madhu Spanditha (12887934) VA USA 1614
70 Abderhalden, Katherine Louise (13405085) ME USA 1612
71 Alilovic, Miran (13184893) OH USA 1606
72 Ravi, Saisree (13334345) MN USA 1604
Tallo, Emily (13526540) IN USA 1604
74 Lin, Jessica (13039505) TX USA 1603
75 Costescu, Sanda (12430617) VA USA 1600
76 Zhang, Victoria (12923386) TX USA 1599
77 Mccreary, Taylor (13656773) CA USA 1597
78 Garg, Elisha C (12760037) CA USA 1594
79 Ahlemann, Brenda (13144702) UT USA 1593
80 Virkud, Apurva (13464694) MI USA 1591
81 Pierson, Emma J (12926393) VA USA 1589
Zhao, Annie (13473022) TX USA 1589
83 Lauser, Jessica T (12593821) AK USA 1587
84 Treiman, Lauren Sara (13190697) UT USA 1586
85 Mc Roberts, Holly J (12822112) NM USA 1581
86 Ramos, Kristin N (12862965) TX USA 1580
87 Bailey, Taylor (12824524) OR USA 1575
88 Roy, Ananya, Ms (12921220) GA USA 1572
89 Gibson, Graham (12777372) TN USA 1563
90 Eng, Rachael (13189664) AZ USA 1556
91 Ding, Kimberly (13218531) NJ USA 1552
92 Hu, Dianna (12938312) NY USA 1548
Fermin, Jasmine M (13281136) NY USA 1548
94 Tran, April (13446290) VA USA 1547
Wise, Katherine Elizabeth (14092530) CO USA 1547
96 Liu, Emily (13321018) TX USA 1543
97 Erabelli, Saroja (12932122) VA USA 1542
98 De Sa, Jacquelyn M (12837187) AZ USA 1536
99 Ballom, Stephanie (12757909) TX USA 1531
100 Kulkarni, Sukhada Nitin (13277014) OH USA 1529

Way to go, kiddo, and it's your move in our current game :)  Just wait until I retire and have the time to take some more lessons from Laura and Dan Sherman - just wait Shira, and World - there's a chess genius somewhere inside of me, just waiting to learn the difference between a pawn and a Queen, whom I regularly sacrifice with reckless abandon.