Floyd Academy Students Design and Build Chess Sets for Chess Club

Floyd Academy students in Joseph Brand’s CAD (Computer Aided Design) class, recently designed and assembled chess boards for the high school Chess Club using donated material from Home Depot in Shirley along with wood left over from last year’s high school library renovation project.

“Fabrication of the boards and pieces required the use of AutoCad, a CNC machine and laser printer,” said Karen Poidomani, CTE Chairperson, William Floyd School District. “Students received real hands-on experience in engineering and manufacturing while providing finely-crafted chess sets to their peers.”

Since Chess Club is a fairly new offering, demand for chess sets began to grow as the program gained in popularity. Now, thanks to the work of Floyd Academy students, Chess Club members can hone their skills on real wooden chess sets.

“Chess Club members love the boards and put them to good use,” said Jordan Schnepp, co-advisor of the Chess Club. “The fine wooden sets reflect the sophistication of the game itself; not to mention, all Chess Club members now have boards on which to play.”

Special thanks to Bernadette Martin, Associate Support Development Supervisor at Home Depot, for providing the materials to create the sets.

Computer Aided Design teacher Joseph Brand is pictured with Floyd Academy students who created new chess boards for the William Floyd High School Chess Club.