MOOSEHEART, IL - In the end, and as is the case every year, the seven bridges constructed by Mooseheart’s senior physics students ended as broken bits of balsa wood.

But for an hour on Friday, Jan. 11, those bits of wood and glue transfixed the Mooseheart student body, much of which gathered in teacher Curt Schlinkmann’s classroom to see which bridge would last the longest in the 22nd Annual Mooseheart Bridge-Breaking Competition.

“I like to see this,” Schlinkmann said. “It gives the kids a chance to work on something. With everybody viewing it, it makes it exciting. They put a lot of work into it. The school looks forward to it.”

This year’s first-place honor went to Chris Morones, whose bridge held 13 pounds before breaking. Jake Stegeman’s bridge also held exactly the same 13 pounds, but his bridge, at 44.2 grams, was slightly heavier than Morones’ 42.5-gram structure, giving Morones the title in the friendly competition.

The tie for weight in the bucket is the first in the 22-year history of the competition, Schlinkmann said.

Morones has been at Mooseheart since he was a toddler, and so was exaggerating only slightly when he said he's seen the Bridge-Breaking “a million and a half” times. Still, things are different when you’re the guy putting the weights in the bucket.

“It’s kind of scary, actually,” Morones said. “Everyone’s looking at you.”

A year after the winning bridge held an all-time record 71 pounds in the Bridge-Breaking, 13 pounds doesn’t seem like a great amount of weight. But Schlinkmann focused less on that fact and more on the substance of the project -- which is to learn about weight distribution and other engineering factors that go into bridge construction.

“It’s a little low compared to some of the winners,” Schlinkmann said. “But it was still a lot of work that they put into it. They learned and they had fun. Education can be fun, that’s the important thing.”

Last year's record-strength bridge was built by 2007 senior Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto, whose construction held 71.7 pounds before snapping.

“I was thinking about calling her and asking her what her secret was, but I didn’t,” Morones said. Morones said that he and his classmates did learn a lot during the construction process.

“It takes a lot of concentration and planning to build a bridge,” Morones said. “Some of us had these amazing ideas. But when you go to do it with wood, it wouldn’t work. You have to pay attention to all the small details.”

Students worked on their bridges through Christmas break. They were given a specified amount of balsa wood, and could use only standard glue to with which to hold bridge components together. There are guidelines as to how tall and how wide the bridge needs to be in order to compete in the bridge-breaking.

“I don’t want them to build a superstructure,” Schlinkmann said. “I don’t want them all to go 70 pounds.”

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229.