Each day in December, we are writing about a Gift of Tucson. These are people who quietly make our town what it is — volunteers, parents, neighbors, people who commit random acts of kindness. Go to go.azstarnet.com/giftsof tucson to read about other gifts of Tucson.
Today's gifts: Jean Hoffman, 28.
Nominated by: Her former St. Gregory College Preparatory School classmate, Demion Clinco.
Why she's special: Jean Hoffman had intended to be a lawyer.
But after graduating from Yale, she took some time off from school and went to New York City to teach chess in low-income schools.
"I thought it would be part-time," said Hoffman. "But it was there that I became a believer in the power of chess as a teaching tool."
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So she went on to get her master's in education from Harvard, and headed back to her Tucson home, where she launched the nonprofit 9 Queens.
"She came back with the intent of developing a nonprofit program through chess," said Demion Clinco.
"I think she is a social entrepreneur; she sees a need and a way to give back to the community in a very fundamental way. It's who she is as a person."
"I wanted to start 9 Queens in Tucson because there's already a strong chess community here," Hoffman said. "But it's concentrated in schools that can afford a chess coach, or schools that are private."
She learned to play chess when she was in the first grade, and she swears by the game's ability to teach self-confidence and thinking skills, and myriad other educational benefits. And research backs her up.
"Our mission is to extend the benefits of chess to the underserved and underrepresented groups in the chess world," she said.
That would be girls and low-income students, the groups 9 Queens reaches out to. About that name — in the game of chess, each player has one queen and eight pawns. In theory, those pawns have the potential to become powerful queens.
"Chess is fun, it's tactile," said Hoffman. "I teach chess one day a week at Roskruge (Bilingual Magnet Middle School). Most of the kids wouldn't consider signing up for a chess club. But I've found chess has the power to reach kids who are being failed in other areas. They are intrigued by the world of chess."
Hoffman's had the advantage of an Ivy League education. She could do just about anything anywhere.
Why here, why this?
"The short answer is that it makes me happy," she said.
"I was blown away at how rewarding education was. I've had experience in other professional settings, but none was as rewarding as what I do now."
— Kathleen Allen
Gifts of Tucson
Look on these pages daily this month — we'll have a gift for every day of December
Check these pages and on-line at go.azstarnet.com/ giftsoftucson all month for a new Gift of Tucson every day.
