To Fans, Mr. Bender Is the Woody Hayes Of 8th-Grade Science
After Years of Dominating National 'Olympiad,' His Kids Face a Crunch
VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Richard Bender is holed up in his classroom nearly every day with 21 young assistants. They are building self-propelled vehicles and bottle rockets, and boning up on genetics and aquatic ecology. He swears outsiders to secrecy, as if this were "Cold War technology development," he says.
He and his students are preparing -- after school, at night and on weekends -- for the Science Olympiad, an annual spring academic competition among 14,500 schools nationwide. Under Mr. Bender, an eighth-grade science teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School here, the team has won 15 state titles, seven consecutive top-four national rankings and two national titles.
WALL STREET JOURNAL VIDEO
Elizabeth Holmes discusses this year's Science Olympiad. Plus, see video of the competition earlier this year, recorded by the winning team from Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Valparaiso, Indiana.The Indiana General Assembly passed a resolution praising Mr. Bender "for his dedication to increase student interest and academic achievement in science." Some compare his winning record to that of legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes. Says Gerard Putz, the Olympiad's president and co-founder: "He's one of those magical coaches."
But is the magic fading? Last season, the team's winning streak snapped when it came in 10th, and Mr. Bender's kids are feeling the heat. Says 13-year-old Jessie Bunchek: "It just kind of blew everybody away."
The Science Olympiad, launched in 1983, bills itself as an "academic track meet." Each level -- regional, state and national -- holds a daylong series of 23 events. Some require study, with students vying to become experts. In "Awesome Aquifer," for instance, students examine groundwater patterns and take a written exam. Flashier events ask students to build a device that accomplishes a task. "Storm the Castle," for instance, requires students to build a trebuchet, a catapultlike contraption that launches a ball at a target.
Mr. Bender's longtime success has caused some resentment. Last year, his team made technical mistakes in setting up a contraption in the "Junkyard Challenge" event, in which they built a device from scrap materials to make a cup of instant coffee. "Oh, look -- TJ failed!" taunted two students from a competing team, according to a TJ mother who was looking on.
Several of Mr. Bender's team members were goofing around with a video camera at a hotel during last year's state competition when a coach from a competing team accused them of spying. The students went to Mr. Bender in tears. He calls the accusations "totally false."
Dan Bowker
Scott Dodson, left, and Kate Manning competed for Thomas Jefferson in the "wheeled vehicle" event last season.
In Indiana, Mr. Bender's rivals simply concede him first place. "The big competition is seeing who's going to be second," says Ed Pulver, coach of a team from Kokomo.
Mr. Bender, 54, who is also Thomas Jefferson's athletic director, won his first state title in 1990, four years after he first put together a team. In 1993, the school won its first national title. As the team's success grew, so did its audience. The building events, like "Bottle Rocket," where students launch a two-liter bottle using nothing other than water and air pressure as a propellant, often drew a crowd.
Some students feel the stakes are especially high because the school's teams have been as successful as they have. Samantha Haller, now 16, says she was nervous just because "everyone knew you were TJ."
Students from Thomas Jefferson Middle School, in Valparaiso, Ind., compete in the 'Storm the Castle' event at the 2004 Indiana state competition for the Science Olympiad.
In 1993, Mr. Bender began using teacher recommendations in tryouts, along with achievement-test scores and his own exams testing hand-eye coordination and writing. He also stepped up his recruiting tactics. Tanav Popli, now a 17-year-old high-school senior, remembers Mr. Bender pitching the club to his sixth-grade science class.
"It was like applying to college," jokes Mr. Popli, a team member from 2002 to 2004. "I had to write an essay about why I liked science."
Teachers in all subject areas now readily point out exceptional students -- academically and personally. Mr. Bender has a laundry list of criteria. "Are they devoted? Are they consistent? Are they smart? Are they emotionally steady?" he says, adding, "I don't mean boring."
Unlike some rivals, Mr. Bender assigns his students events. He has a detailed game plan. In "Road Scholar," for example, two students demonstrate their navigation skills using an atlas and maps. Mr. Bender says he picks one student strong in math and another who is a good reader. Both have to be quick thinkers, and clear handwriting doesn't hurt.
Time commitment for team members is intense. They practice after school for several months, but as the competition nears, they add practices at night and on weekends. "We didn't succeed because of some magic formula or because we were 'in' with the judges," says Andreas Shepard, a team member from 2002 to 2004. "It's because we pretty much outworked everybody else."
Dan Bowker
John York, left, and Joe Galbiatti represented Thomas Jefferson Middle School in the "Mission Possible" event in the Science Olympiad Regionals last school year. They had to accomplish a series of tasks using a device made up of simple machines.
Their biggest rival is J.C. Booth Middle School, from Peachtree City, Ga. Uttering the name "Booth" to Mr. Bender's students elicits a kind of half-shudder. The two teams have repeatedly vied with each other for the big prize.
In 1996, the two schools shared the national title. Since then, Booth has bested Mr. Bender's team more often than not. Carol Haller, an assistant coach at Thomas Jefferson, credits the Booth team's farm-system -- it has a sixth-grade team that practices a year before it is able to compete. Says Booth Coach Mary Wilde of Mr. Bender: "He's awesome."
Mr. Bender insists there's "no bad blood," but he says, "We don't give each other hugs." Last year, Booth won first place in the nationals, and Mr. Bender's team was a distant 10th.
"I feel really disappointed in myself," says eighth-grader Katherine Dalzotto, 13. "I took it as a personal thing," says Joe Galbiati, a freshman who will return to Mr. Bender's team for a third year.
With the new season approaching, Mr. Bender insists he won't change his tack. He is focusing on matching the best students to appropriate events. His returning team members say last year's debacle is motivating.
"It's just going to come back to haunt us if we don't get rid of it," says Ms. Bunchek, an eighth-grader. She thinks: "Do you want to place 10th this year or do you want to be a really good team?"
科学奥林匹克的神奇教练
理查德?本德(Richard Bender)几乎每天都和21名年轻助手窝在教室里。他们正在建造自力推动装置和水火箭，潜心研究遗传学和水生生态学。这一切他对外人守口如瓶，用他的话来说，似乎这就是“冷战时期的技术开发”。
本德和学生们其实是在利用课后、晚间和周末的时间备战科学奥林匹克(Science Olympiad)。此项学术竞赛在每年春季举行，全国有14,500所学校参赛。本德是杰弗逊中学(Thomas Jefferson Middle School)执教八年级学生的科学教师。在他的带领下，学校赢取了15次州赛冠军，连续七年进入全国前四名，两次获得全国冠军。
印第安那州议会曾通过一项决议，表彰本德“在提高学生对科学的兴趣并帮助他们取得学术成就方面所作的贡献”。有人把本德的获奖纪录与俄亥俄州立大学橄榄球队传奇教练伍迪?海耶斯(Woody Hayes)相提并论。科学奥林匹克主席、联合创办人杰勒德?普策(Gerard Putz)说，“本德堪称是神奇教练之一。”
不过，神奇教练的魔法难道正在消失？在上个赛季的比赛中，本德带领的队伍栽了跟头，只得到了第十名。这次，队里的孩子感到了压力。13岁的杰西?邦切克(Jessie Bunchek)说，“每个人都为这件事震惊。”
始创于1983年的科学奥林匹克号称“学术田径运动会”，它分为地区赛、州赛和全国赛，每个级别的赛事由23个单项赛组成。有些比赛要求学生深入研究，看谁是这方面的专家。比如在“惊人的蓄水层”(Awesome Aquifer)项目中，学生们要分析地下水结构，并参加书面考试。而有些生动活泼的项目则要求学生制作一个装置以完成某项任务，比如“攻陷城堡”(Storm the Castle)比赛要求学生构建投石器，也就是能向目标发射炮弹的弹射器装置。
本德长久以来的好成绩招来了一些嫉恨。去年，他的队伍在参加“废物场挑战”(Junkyard Challenge)项目时犯了技术错误，没能按要求用少量材料成功构建能制作即溶咖啡的装置。“看啊，杰弗逊队失败了！”杰弗逊队队员的母亲在观看比赛时听到另一个参赛队的两名学生嗤笑道。
去年州赛时，本德带领的几名队员拿着摄像机在酒店内拍着玩，这被另一支参赛队的教练指责为偷拍。这几个学生泪流满面地去找本德，本德说这种指责“纯粹是无稽之谈”。
在印第安那州，本德是公认的第一名得主。“最大的挑战是看谁能拿第二，”Kokomo队教练埃德?普尔弗(Ed Pulver)说。
1986年本德第一次组队，四年后就获得了州赛冠军。1993年，杰弗逊队第一次赢得了全国冠军。随着捷报频传，他们的观众也越来越多。需要学生动手参与的项目，比如“水火箭”经常吸引众人围观。这个项目要求学生们仅凭水和气压将一个容量为2升的瓶子发射升空。54岁的本德还是杰弗逊中学体育教学的带头人。
由于杰弗逊队的表现一直很优秀，有些选手感觉压力很大。16岁的萨曼莎?哈勒(Samantha Haller)说，在参赛时感觉紧张，因为“所有人都知道你是杰弗逊队的。”
从1993年开始，本德在挑选队员时需要教师推荐，还要考虑学生的课业成绩，他本人还要对学生进行眼手协调和写作的测验。现年17岁的高中生塔纳弗?波普里(Tanav Popli)回忆起本德在六年级的科学课上组建队伍时的情景。
他开玩笑说，“这好像申请大学一样，我必须写一篇文章，说明我为什么喜欢科学。”波普里在2002至2004年间是杰弗逊队的一员。
各科老师都乐于推荐品学兼优的优等生。本德也有一长串的标准。“他们专注吗？能始终如一吗？聪明吗?情绪上稳定吗？”他又补充说，“我指的可不是乏味。”
与其他竞争对手不同的是，本德给学生们布置任务。他有一套详细的行动方针。例如“道路专家”(Road Scholar)比赛要求两名学生展现出利用地图辨别方向的技能。本德说，他会挑选一名数学尖子和一名擅长阅读的学生组成搭档。两人都必须思维敏捷，字迹清楚也是个优点。
队员们要投入大量的时间。他们在放学后要进行几个月的练习，而且随着比赛邻近，他们需要在晚上和周末增加训练。2002至2004年间的队员安德莉亚斯?谢泼德(Andreas Shepard)说，“我们的成功不是因为什么神奇魔法，也不是因为裁判对我们青睐有加，而是因为我们的准备工作胜过其他所有的对手。”
他们最强劲的对手是乔治亚州桃树市的J.C.布斯中学(J.C. Booth Middle School)。一提到“布斯”，本德的学生不禁倒抽一口凉气。两支队伍多次为争夺最后冠军而展开激烈较量。
1996年，两支队伍同获全国比赛冠军。从那以后，布斯队占了上风。杰弗逊队的助教卡罗尔?哈勒(Carol Haller)将布斯队的成功归功于他们的队员培养机制。布斯队有一支六年级的队伍，他们要训练一年才能参加比赛。布斯队教练玛丽?怀尔德(Mary Wilde)谈到本德时则说，“他很棒。”
本德坚称与布斯队之间没有“仇恨”，不过又说：“我们也不会相互拥抱。”去年布斯队在全国比赛中获得第一名，而本德的队伍只屈居第十。
13岁的八年级学生凯萨琳?达尔佐托(Katherine Dalzotto)说，“我对自己的表现感到非常失望。”将第三次加入本德团队的乔?加尔比亚蒂(Joe Galbiati)则说，“我已经把参赛看作自己的事了。”
面对即将到来的新赛季，本德表示不会改变战略。他目前正专心为各项赛事选派最合适的选手。那些重返队伍的成员表示，去年的惨败经历激励他们更加努力。
八年级的邦切克说，“我们必须走出失败的阴影。”她说，“你今年还想拿第十还是要证明自己的团队真的很优秀？”
Elizabeth Holmes
