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Robert Peterson 82 Educator Founded Academic Decathlon
California; Metro Desk -
Claire Luna, Times Staff Writer -
07 June 2003
Los Angeles Times -
Home Edition, B-19 -
Copyright 2003 The Los Angeles Times
Robert Peterson, who during 24 years as Orange County schools superintendent
founded the Academic Decathlon, which challenges the mental mettle of tens of
thousands of students worldwide each year, has died. He was 82.
Peterson died Monday in his hometown of Matthews, N.C., of a brain aneurysm,
said his wife, Kitty.
Peterson, who retired as county superintendent in 1990, profoundly affected
students when he created the Academic Decathlon in 1968, educators said.
He envisioned a new kind of competition that would give students of different
achievement levels a chance to shine. Other academic contests, he said, rewarded
only top-level students who didn't need the motivation.
Peterson's remedy was to require decathlon teams to include B and C students
along with A students for the 10-event contest, which includes math, art and
speech.
The program gives A students the chance to show their strengths and B students
the chance to improve, but most important, it has the power to change C
students' lives, said Marvin Cobb, executive director of the California Academic
Decathlon.
"He recognized that these diamonds in the rough needed something to make going
to school worthwhile," Cobb said.
Through his tenaciousness, Peterson created a program that grew from one high
school in Garden Grove to more that 2,200 worldwide, said current Orange County
Supt. of Schools William M. Habermehl, who worked under Peterson.
"Often when somebody retires or leaves, you see a lot of their programs
collapse," Habermehl said. "He put the decathlon together in a way that it will
live a life of its own forever."
Long in frail health, Peterson traveled to Erie, Pa., last month for the
national decathlon finals for the first time in seven years. While there,
students lined up with their parents for photos and autographs with Peterson,
which his wife said overwhelmed him.
"He just seemed to bloom with their exuberance," she said. "Their love for
learning was so exciting to him."
Married for 57 years, the couple met when she was in high school and he was
stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. Charmed by his Southern manners,
she decided to marry him after he returned from a stint as a B-17 pilot during
World War II.
Peterson started his educational career in 1955 as a teacher in Santa Ana and
was a principal in the same district before running for county superintendent.
After retiring, he taught night school teaching classes at local colleges, then
moved so he and his wife could be closer to their daughter, Caydea Coobs, of
Indian Trail, N.C.
Peterson also is survived by his son, Robert, of Herlong, Calif., two
granddaughters, a grandson and a great-grandson.
Copyright 2003 Orange County Register Orange County Register
(California)
June 5, 2003, Thursday
HEADLINE: Schools chief founded academic decathlon // O.C. educator Robert
Peterson, 82, never took credit for the competition that spread nationwide.
BYLINE: By ZAHEERA WAHID , The Orange County Register
BODY: The academic decathlon is Robert Peterson's legacy, but 35 years after the
competition's inception and tremendous success, Peterson still wouldn't take the
credit.
''Anyone can have an idea, but you all have done the work,'' Peterson, former
superintendent of Orange County schools, told coaches at the 22nd annual
competition in Erie, Pa., in April.
Peterson died Monday of a brain aneurysm in his hometown of Matthews, N.C. He
was 82.
Peterson had moved to Orange County after serving as a B-17 pilot in World War
II. He was held captive for 17 months during the war after his plane was shot
down.
When he returned, he persuaded his then-girlfriend, Kitty, to leave Colorado and
go to California with him. Six months later, the two were married.
''I said to my mother, 'He's too old and too nice,' '' said Kitty Peterson about
her initial reaction to the man who was five years older than she was.
But she soon realized he was ''the nicest fellow I've ever met.''
''Those crazy boys in Colorado didn't have manners like that,'' she said,
recalling Peterson's southern ways. ''He was honest, faithful and fun but had a
mission in life.''
Peterson found his passion when he gave up teaching elementary school in Santa
Ana to become superintendent of the Department of Education in 1966.
As chief of schools, he created the academic decathlon in 1968, a competition of
the mind that includes students of varying achievement levels.
The program expanded, county by county, state by state. Today, more than 35,000
students participate annually in the competition that is held nationally.
''He never stopped,'' said Bill Habermehl, current superintendent of schools who
also worked under Peterson. ''Our county was dedicated to growing the program,
and it was Bob Peterson; he was always on the phone, always talking.
''He got so much gratification that you could hear the cheering in the
gymnasium, and it wasn't for an athletic event,'' Habermehl said.
Peterson was re-elected six times, serving 24 years, until 1990 when he was
defeated by John Dean.
And he ran all those elections without taking a dime in contributions from his
employees, Habermehl said.
''I wrote a check one time, and, by golly, we got the check back,'' Habermehl
said.
With it was a polite note from Peterson saying, ''Thank you, but I don't accept
checks from employees.''
Every now and then, Peterson would hop over to Los Angeles and work as a
substitute teacher for a day so he could keep up with what was going on in the
classroom, Kitty Peterson said.
After 24 years with the county, he and Kitty retired to North Carolina to be
closer to their daughter, Caydea Coobs.
Peterson also is survived by his son, Robert, two granddaughters, a grandson and
a great-grandson.