By Angela Marshall
More than 1,500 students nationwide applied to the prestigious scholarship competition, and the South Side students were more than pleased that they were among the 300 semifinalists, which were announced Jan. 16. When the judges narrowed the list to 40 entries last week, Kardon and Fleischer both made the cut, earning a guaranteed $5,000 apiece in scholarship money.
The pair will head to Washington D.C. on March 6 for a chance to win the top prize of $100,000. Last year, South Side grad Jessica Stahl won 10th place and a $20,000 scholarship.
Reeling over the amount of work involved in getting ready for the finals, keeping up with school work and rehearsing for South Side's annual Red and Blue competition, Fleischer wrote to Stahl and asked her how she handled the pressure.
"I'm not going to make it through the next month," Fleischer said as she discussed all the work expected of her with science teacher Richard Kurtz. But, she said, if Stahl could do it, she can. Fleischer's parents are helping as well, making sure she gets enough sleep.
Kardon isn't worrying about the stress of getting ready for the Intel competition as much as he worries about errant fists on the basketball court. He was injured last week when he got punched in the eye during a game. He said he was on the mend during a phone call on Monday.
Sports are a big part of Kardon's life. He based his Intel project on the question, "Do pay raises affect measured performance and inferred motivation in professional baseball players?" His statistical analysis proved that they don't.
Kardon has also developed a Web site where he evaluates college football players for the NFL draft.
He said the aspect of the Intel finals that he is most excited about is the chance to meet the other finalists. One of them, Fleischer said, already has a master's degree in math, though he's still in high school.
The two teens will also have a chance to meet with scientists.
South Side Principal Carol Burris was quick to praise Kardon and Fleischer. "Both students are most deserving of this recognition and I'm sure they will enjoy wonderful success in Washington," she said.
She credits much of the success of South Side's Intel program to Kurtz. "Richard is outstanding," she said. "His belief in students and dedication to our school is remarkable."
This is the first time South Side has had two students make it to the finals, and Kurtz was ecstatic. "No way -- this is not true," he thought when Kardon called him a few hours after Fleischer to say he had made it. Contest officials called the winners the night before they released the results on the Intel Web site. "I couldn't believe it," Kurtz said.
Fleischer plans to study business and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania next year. Kardon isn't sure what he plans to major in, but is hoping to attend Yale or another top school.
