Progress With Chess Provides Free Programs for Cleveland Youth at Harvey Rice Wraparound School & The CPL Rice Library Branch
May 13th, 2026 – Cleveland, Ohio
Over 60 Harvey Rice Wraparound School Students take weekly chess classes from former Scholastic State Champion and PWC Alumni Trey Modlin!
In 2026, Progress With Chess provided three classes a week at Harvey Rice Elementary, for free. This program was led by longtime tournament player and director, former Progress With Chess student National Master Trey Modlin. The three classes were for 1st grade, 2nd/3rd grade combined and 5th grade, were one hour long and took place every Tuesday morning through the Winter and Spring Semesters. Over 60 CMSD students had the opportunity to learn the basics of chess as a special during the school day, so they could take that skill home and onward through their scholastic career.
Participating Harvey Rice students also had the opportunity to compete in the 23rd Annual Carl Bowers CMSD Chess Tournament at the Louis Stokes wing of the Downtown Public Library, where they won trophies, received medals and magnetic chess sets, as well as special custom t-shirts designed in-house for the event.
Students participating in our chess program at Harvey Rice Elementary were also invited to the upcoming 2nd Check On Your Mate Chess Challenge, an event open to participating Cleveland Schools hosted in collaboration with Progressive Field and the Cleveland Guardians. More information on that event will be made available soon.
Complementing this program, and serving many of the same students, Progress With Chess has also launched a new collaboration with the Rice Branch of the Cleveland Public Library, hosting an after school chess club on Wednesdays at 3:00 PM. This program is also provided completely free to the library and to the students, and will be continued through the summer.
Our mission is simple: to create & facilitate inclusive programs for youth that foster personal growth through the learning, playing and enjoyment of chess.
We hope not only to expand these programs, but to provide additional similar programming to more students and communities throughout the Greater Cleveland Area. This is not a new practice for Progress With Chess, over our 26 years of operation. In addition to providing programming at discounted rates at sites such as Kenneth Clement Boy’s Leadership Academy and Campus International School in the 2025-2026 school year, we have run numerous programs free of charge for both the site and for students – such as the Valley View Boy’s Leadership Academy in the 2024-2025 school year. These programs serve our city and our students through the game of chess. Expanding these programs is not possible without your support!
the valley view boys leadership academy chess team at the 2023 carl bowers cmsd tournament
We greatly appreciate the ongoing support of our sponsors, without whom we could not make programs like this happen! See our patrons at progresswithchess.org/pwc_sponsors
We are now accepting donations to support this and other free chess programs at progresswithchess.org/donate.
