2024 Lerner Award Finalists/Winners

Winners: 

• Eliot Weiss, Coach of the Murrow High School Chess Club, NY, was announced as the winner in the Best Chess Coordinator category of the Andy Lerner Award for Excellence in Chess Education. 

• Elizabeth Spiegel, Chess Teacher at I.S. 318, Brooklyn NY, was announced as the winner in the Best Chess Educator category of the Andy Lerner Award for Excellence in Chess Education. 

Finalists in the Coordinator Category:

• Abel Talamantez, Chess Program Manager, Rise Hamilton Chess, Novato, California

• Judy Viertel, Teacher Librarian/ Chess Coordinator, Marshall Elementary School, San Francisco, California

Finalists in the Educator Category:

• Keyron Jarvis, Chess Lead, Bold Charter School, Bronx, NY

• Lauren Jahn, English Teacher/ Chess Club Advisor, Sturgis Brown High School, Sturgis, South Dakota

In addition to selecting the winners and the finalists, the Award Committee presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to 

• • Margaret Russo, Principal at P.S. 160K, Brooklyn, NY, and 
  • David MacEnulty, legendary chess coach and author. 

The winners received a monetary prize of $10,000 that included a $5,000 award to the educator and $5,000 to the affiliated organization. Four finalists each received a $2,000 award, split between them and their chess programs. 

Questions may be directed to Marilyn Lucero, CIS Development Associate: (646) 688-0724, mlucero@chessintheschools.org