When the winners of the state problem-solving competition were announced last May, the three teams from Marquardt Middle School held hands as they endured the suspense.
Third place in the intermediate division of the Illinois Future Problem-Solving Bowl went to one team of Marquardt 8th graders. Second place went to the school`s other 8th-grade team. The champions were one of the school`s two 7th-grade teams: In two hours, the students brainstormed their solution for preventing further disintegration of the earth`s ozone layer.
”It was the greatest thrill for them to win,” says coach Nancy Benson, who also is a science teacher at Marquardt, 1912 Glen Ellyn Rd., Glendale Heights. ”We were all screaming and crying.”
That team, now 8th graders preparing to defend their title at the 1989 competition, are Jeff Milton, 14; Valerie Pinzker, 13; Tom Warrick, 14; and Michael Buck, 13. They placed second at this year`s regionals.
The second 8th-grade team, which placed first at the regionals, and about two dozen other teams also will compete for state positions. The two-day meet will be held May 20 and 21 at Illinois State University, Normal.
The teams won`t know what problem they must solve until they get there.
Focusing on social and scientific issues, the topics may range from birth defects to space stations to hydrogen fuel. A few weeks before the state meet, the contestants are given a suggested reading list.
”We know the topic (employment/unemployment), that`s all,” Michael says. ”But we don`t know if it (will be) employment or unemployment. Until then, we`re going to the library and reading everything we can find.”
”The program gives kids a chance to learn research skills and cooperative learning,” Principal James D. Sayers says. ”They have to think on their feet.”
For the two 8th-grade teams, problem-solving is a daily, credited course taken with their academic studies. The 7th-grade team meets once a week after school. As competition dates approach, the teams put in additional hours after school and on weekends, often meeting at each others` homes.
In the classroom and in competition, the teams-all honors students-follow a six-step thought process for determining solutions to each problem.
They are given a rambling, wordy scenario, or ”fuzzy situation,” as the competition worksheets describe it, which elaborates the present circumstances pertaining to the issue. Each team must identify the major as well as the related problems, then devise 20 possible solutions and the criteria by which these solutions should be judged. By applying the criteria to their solutions they select the best one and expand upon it.
The Illinois Future Problem-Solving Bowl is sponsored by the Illinois Council for the Gifted, a nonprofit organization based in Batavia. The council, which has sponsored the competition since 1980, is dedicated to the education and development of programs for gifted students. Problem-solvers are divided into three divisions according to their grade levels. Winners in the state`s eight regions compete in the state competition, and those winners go on to the international competition. (There is no national level.) Marquardt`s 7th-grade champs did not place in the international bowl last June.
”It`s a lot of work and as we get closer to the deadlines, we work harder,” Michael says. ”But then there is the thrill of victory.”
”We`re getting more knowledge about different subjects for (the)
future,” Tom adds.
Benson, who has been coaching the teams since the program started at Marquardt in the 1985-86 academic year, also puts in the hours. To come up with practice scenarios, she must first research the issues.
”I love what I`m doing,” she says. ”It tells me if I`m keeping up. If my kids are keeping up, then I must be. After 24 years of teaching you can get stale, and I don`t think I am.”
Benson has been teaching science at Marquardt for 13 years. A Villa Park resident, she received her bachelor`s of science degree from Rosary College, River Forest, and is working toward her masters degree in science education from Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, and the National College of Education, Lombard. Before becoming the problem-solving coach, she led students through other competitive events, such as science fairs and cheerleading.
”I can teach the process and help with the mechanics and motivate them to think creatively, but the ideas they come up with are their own,” Benson says. ”I like the kids to get the feel of competition because they will be competing all of their lives.”
”She has fun and jokes around, but when it`s time to work she puts pressure on us-but it`s healthful pressure,” Valerie says.
”We call her the Coach Ditka of Problem-Solving,” Michael says jokingly.
Benson became interested in the problem-solving program when Jane Seidel, District 15 coordinator for the gifted, brought the idea to her attention. The two attended a workshop for coaches, and district officials permitted them to bring the program to Marquardt as an extracurricular activity.
”After the first year, I decided there was so much involved in the teaching of thinking skills, (that) to do a good job we needed more time than once a week,” Benson says.
”I think one of the reasons our kids do so well is because we made a commitment to make problem-solving a class,” Sayers says.
”Nancy is an excellent teacher,” Seidel says. ”She is a terrific motivator and can clarify information well to make it black and white.”
Seidel also praises the competitive aspect of the program. ”It`s a good model for them to see other kids being smart. We give awards for athletes, and they give each other awards for the most popular. I don`t want them to (prefer being) popular than smart.”
For the 1988-89 school year, Seidel has initiated a pilot problem-solving team among the district`s 6th graders. she selected nine interested students from four elementary schools; they comprise two teams. They`re coached by Seidel and Benson and meet weekly at Marquardt to work with the 7th graders. The elementary teams get the same fuzzy situation and use the same six-step thought process as the middle school teams.
Participation in the middle school program also is voluntary; right now the program is limited to two teams in two grades. Benson screens the interested students before assigning them to a team.
”The program has really caught on. There`s enough interest that I could have seven teams,” she says.
”It`s work for the parents, too,” Sayers says. ”They have to be supportive of the commitment and fund the traveling and hotel bills. But these are gifted students, and by and large, gifted parents as well.”
Valerie`s mother, Beverly, has found the problem-solving process a plus for Valerie and the entire family. ”It can be applied not only to big problems but to any problem in life,” Pinzker says. ”We`ve used the process for something as small as who uses the bathroom when. Another benefit is it opens the kids` eyes at a young age to what is going on in the world. It expands their thinking.”
The teamwork is an important quality of the program, Benson says. The students care about each other and help each other in their weak areas, she says.
”We`ve become so close together when we work (that) we`d be missing something if we weren`t here,” Jeff says.
”We all have special qualities, and we`re good friends,” Valerie agrees. ”Mike and Tom get into disagreements, and Jeff and I will stop them. Or they`ll talk about baseball cards and sports, and I`ll say, `This is boring.` ”
Their biggest regret is that Glenbard East High School in Glen Ellyn, where they will be freshmen this fall, does not participate in the problem-solving program.
”We`re going to write a letter and ask if they could add one,” Jeff says.
