“The Woody Hayes of 8th Grade Science”
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.
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.”
