Winning (17 State Titles) Ain’t Easy

Science Crime Busters, Road Scholars, and Wright Stuff are all events at the National Science Olympiad . Perhaps you have heard of Science O., but if you have not, you should know that one of the Nation’s best teams resides right here in Valparaiso. 8th Grade Science teacher Richard Bender coaches the 2-time national champion Thomas Jefferson Middle School Science Olympiad team. The competition consists of 23 events that test all areas of science including Life Science, Earth/Space Science, and Engineering. The team consists of 10 students from TJMS and 5 High School Freshmen who attended TJMS. This year, the team won Regional competition in February, and moved on to the State competition where they won their 17th state title in March, advancing them to the National Competition for the 20th consecutive year. They competed at the National Science Olympiad in Augusta, GA, May 15-16 and finished in 8th place competing against teams from all parts of the country.

Bender has been recognized by publications before for his coaching excellence, including a story in the Wall Street Journal in 2006. And while coaching this team is a huge commitment, his natural motivation never ceases.

“Being motivated is a very fun thing to have… It gives you energy and a goal and interest. And even if you don’t get paid that much for it, there’s a certain value in motivation.” While every coach has his method, many coaches of Science O. have drastically different ways of preparing and even choosing their teams. But Bender, having coached Track and Cross Country at Thomas Jefferson for years as well, coaches his team in much the same way.

“I coach more like an athletic coach where I pretty much…have a feel for what their abilities are and convince them that they can do just about anything. If you want to be better, and win, then you have to put in the time. And if you want to win a state title, it gets to be very tough.” Well, it seems like it’s working for Bender and Thomas Jefferson; 17 state titles and 3 national titles don’t lie.

Team members: Josh Abatie, Ethan Biggs, Lexie Bluhm, Veronica Chevalier, Tim Czekaj, Caitlyn Gear, Mark Halfman, Zach Hallow, Nick Hartman, Cam Heskett, Sam Johnson, Daniel Karr, Alex Kessler, Anthony Majewski, Bennet Sanders, Hannah Zygmunt, and Rainer Neis.