Serious about competition as a young boy in 1988, David O’Connor allowed himself a sly smile of contentment as his parents snapped a Polaroid portrait of the sixth-grader posing with his medals. Taking second-place in the individual competition, O’Connor helped his team from James W. Riley Elementary School in Arlington Heights win the “Future Problem Solving Bowl” state championship. His team advanced to the international competition, where they worked on a birth-defect problem, but didn’t win.
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