J.T. Lambert Intermediate School



The John T. Lambert Intermediate School team is located in the borough of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. This school is located in the East Stroudsburg Area School District. They participate in the competitive Northeast region. They have qualified for states for five of the last seven years and look to continue their current streak of three next year. Their sibling school, East Stroudsburg High School South, has yet to reach the state level. But with the strong J. T. Lambert Intermediate team, this could all change in the next few years.

School Info
J.T. Lambert is a school that teaches 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and the team therefore composes of students from these grades (they have rarely, if ever, had 9th graders on the team). The school was built in 1992 to help with the large increase of students, and it is now one of two intermediate schools in the district. There are an approximate 1,200 students who attend this school, and they pride themselves on academic excellence and character education. Their mascot is the Cavalier, and their colors are purple and white, both of which are the same as the South high school.

History
(*Pentathlon was not held in the region, so the score is out of 22 events)
 * total scores are in parentheses

The Early Years
The first several years of the team's existence, the team was not as competitive as they are at the present time. Most of the time, they placed in the bottom half of their region, as they were only serious about a few of the events. It was thought of more as a casual club than a true team. The results were so terrible that they cannot be posted on the table.

2003-2004
In 2003, however, a new trend was started. The new coach, who was formerly an assistant, started to make the team a contender in their region. These first two years were the beginnings of a competitor. In 02-03 the team seemingly came out of nowhere to finish 10th at states, led by two especially dedicated 7th graders. The next year, they built on this, finishing 2nd in the region and 6th at states, again led by the same participants, now 8th graders. This let many teams in Pennsylvania know that a new team had emerged from its cocoon into being one of the better teams in the state.

2005-2006
After these team leaders graduated, however, the team went into two years of struggling, finishing 9th and 7th in the two years, respectively. Since the state qualification mark was the top 6 in the region (now top 5), they missed the cut both years. The team was mostly forgotten outside the region, and the years of success they had were starting to be considered as a fluke.

2007-2008
Later, however, a new core of students led the team back into respectability. The hungry team made states by placing 5th in the region, and made a dent at states, finishing 11th. Still, they wanted to break the top 10 and be recognized to the entire state. The next year, led by two 8th grade co-captains (one of which was EASTstroudsburg13) they entered the group of top teams in the state, finishing 4th in the region and 6th in the state. Hawke245, hemi382, and 49ers were also members of the 2008 team.

2008 Event Results
Here are the places in which last year's team finished in their events:

2009
After the departure of a highly successful eighth grade core, the past year's team tried to establish itself as a constant force. They continued their winning streak at regionals, again finishing 4th. They gained 11 medals altogether: 2 golds, 5 silvers, 3 bronze, and 1 fourth place finish. After this success, they set their sights on trying to improve for the state competition. There, they finished in 9th place, once again making an impact among the top teams in the state. They got one silver medal, one bronze, and one 5th place. In doing so they proved that they are a team to watch and one that will be competitive for many years. Users on this team were 49ers, karatekid44, yoyosciencekid23, and hemi382. EASTstroudsburg13 also acted as a student coach.

2009 Event Results

 * -*event was not held due to construction on campus
 * -^device was disqualified due to lateness of impound. If device was not disqualified it would have placed 2nd in the event. Thus, the team would have placed 1st in the region.

2010
This year began with very optimistic views, as experienced participants from last year returned along with several new 6th graders and other students. The turnout was very high in the beginning, sometimes reaching almost 30 people at meetings. Thanks to a more efficient process for choosing team members and preparing for events and a greater sense of commitment instilled by their coach, chances for placing well looked brighter than ever. However, as the regional competition neared, hopes started to dim a little as some events were not as strong as they would have preffered them to be.

At the regional competition, the team got 1st out of 21 teams and medaled in 15 out of the 22 events held. This feat can be seen as slightly more impressive when the fact that only three medals for each event were given out, as opposed to the original four. This finish has slightly boosted their confidence in the coming states.

Other Competitions
The only competition this team participates in is their regional, and states if they get there. They have never competed in any invitationals. Their regional this year was on March 11 at Penn State-Wilkes Barre, and states was on May 1 at Juniata College.

Next year their coach hopes to set up an invitational for Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg to compete in at both B and C levels of competition. She has set up competitions for just J.T. Lambert as a practice.

Fun Facts

 * In general, J.T. Lambert has an intense rivalry with Stroudsburg Junior High School, and this carries over to Science Olympiad somewhat. The rivalry in sports is even more intense in the high school.
 * At regionals, the 2008 and 2009 teams got the exact same place and score. However, the 2008 team had to compete in more events than the 2009 team. (23-22)
 * The team holds "runoffs" for each event to determine who makes the team. Once the results are found, the people who do well in multiple events are chosen for the team first and the rest of the spots are filled in.
 * At meetings, Science Olympiad is usually referred to as "Science O".
 * On the way back from the 2008 state competition, the team's bus broke down, and they had to wait about two hours for another bus to arrive. They got back to the school at around 2 AM. EASTstroudsburg13 now thinks this entire situation was rather amusing, contrary to the opinions of some other members (49ers).
 * At 2009 states, a box containing the team's plane was inadvertently tripped over and was damaged badly. However, the event participants (hemi382 and yoyosciencekid23), along with another team member, were able to fix the plane and recover for a ninth place finish.

Users
The following scioly.org users participate or have participated in this school's team:


 * EASTstroudsburg13
 * Hawke245
 * 49ers
 * karatekid44
 * yoyosciencekid23
 * hemi382

Useful Sites

 * School Site
 * District Site
 * Northeastern Region site
 * Pennsylvania SO Site