Grants in Action: The Great Equalizer
Where else does a ten-year-old sit down across from a senior and win?
At a chess tournament, a ten-year-old might sit down across the board from a seventeen-year-old and beat them.
And when the game is over, the two competitors lean in together to talk through every move.
That’s the quiet magic of chess. Age, background, and experience all come second to skill, effort, and mutual respect. It’s a true equalizer, and this year, thanks to a North Kitsap Schools Foundation grant, a lot more North Kitsap students got to experience it.
The grant funded the equipment that teacher and chess coach Justin Johnson needed to host official US Chess and Northwest Chess-rated tournaments right here in the district. These events open tournament chess to students who might never otherwise be afforded the opportunity to play, extending access across the district, the county, and neighboring counties. The gear also helps the program sustain itself, and even gives other North Kitsap School District clubs a way to raise funds.
Then they put it to work. This year, the club hosted its first tournament, and more than 80 middle and high school players from Kitsap, Jefferson, and Clallam counties came to compete. Every secondary school in North Kitsap was represented, a real milestone for a program just getting started.
But the moment that mattered most had nothing to do with trophies.
For the first time, chess players from North Kitsap High School and Poulsbo Middle School connected, and the older students took the younger ones under their wing. The local tournament showed the PMS kids that rated chess was something they could do, too. And when it came time for the Washington State Scholastic Chess Championship in Tacoma, a tournament with more than a thousand players from across the state, the high schoolers invited the middle schoolers to come represent the district alongside them.
What followed was days of preparation, collaboration, and mentorship. They studied together. They supported each other through wins and losses. They built real relationships across grade levels, the kind that don’t come easily to a middle schooler looking up at high school. The older students stepped naturally into leadership, and the younger ones grew in confidence with every game.
The PMS cohort came home with trophies from both the local tournament and the state championship. But they came home with something bigger, too. They returned with a sense of belonging, and the knowledge that when they get to high school, they already have a place in the program and a network of friends waiting to welcome them.
That’s what a tournament hall really becomes: not just a competitive space, but a community built on shared passion and respect.
And that’s the heart of it. A grant meant to buy chess equipment ended up building something that will outlast every board and clock: connection. A middle schooler who once wondered if they belonged now walks into high school already home. That is what support looks like up close.
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