The University of Delaware was the site of a
fun-filled competition dedicated to creative expression, called Odyssey of the
Mind (OotM) on Saturday. Teams from Appoquinimink Schools did a wonderful job,
bringing home a total of five medals and
Olive B. Loss
Elementary School's second place team earned the Ranatra Fusca Award on
Saturday. This is the highest award for creativity in OM, and does not
occur each year. Winning the Ranatra Fusca earned the team an automatic
invitation to the World Tournament in Iowa!
Please
help us congratulate our OotM coaches and their teams.
Skills in student
competition apply to real life
By: Katie Rogers/THE NEWS
JOURNAL
Posted: March 8, 2009
College professors were replaced by princesses,
ducks and Christmas elves who filled the University of Delaware campus Saturday
to teach a different kind of lesson.
Instead of lecturing about English and math, these
characters turned out to demonstrate teamwork.
The event was part of the 29th Delaware Odyssey of
the Mind competition that attracted more than 1,200 students from 71 Delaware
schools. Each group of up to seven students worked for months to creatively
solve different problems as a team.
The groups had a choice of five problems to solve
in a long-term skit, which they presented to a panel of volunteer judges during
round one. They then went onto the spontaneous problem-solving round, in which
they were given an issue to resolve on the spot.
The winning teams will compete at the World Finals
in May at Iowa State University.
Bill Hill, tournament director, said the
competition has been held in Delaware since the late 1980s, and has grown from
30 teams in the early days to more than 200 now.
The skills learned while preparing for the
competition are applicable to real-life situations, Hill said.
"Odyssey focuses on creative problem-solving," he
said. "The skills it uses are practical in the business world, such as
brainstorming ideas, compromise and working with limited resources. It teaches
things you don't always learn in a classroom setting."
Featured in one classroom in Gore Hall were a
prissy mouse, a crazy doctor with cotton balls for hair, a nurse with a fishbowl
on her head, a wizard, and a woman named "Mrs. Fields," who resembled a cookie.
The team helped to show its creature, Omer the
raccoon, why eating doughnuts would make it sick in their original skit,
complete with handmade props and backdrop. Omer learned his lesson, the doctor
lost her hair, and the girls danced excitedly to the applause of parents,
teachers and peers.
The team, led by parent volunteer Sarah Jawahar,
hailed from Holy Cross School in Dover. Jawahar said the girls had been working
for nearly six months on their problem in the "Teach Yer Creature" category, in
which they constructed a fictitious creature and taught it a lesson.
For Jawahar, the competition was a symbol of the
team's hard work and diligence.
"They really learned to think out of the box," she
said. "They figured out how to solve problems as a team, not just by themselves.
The best part of it all is being here and seeing it all come together at the
end."
Teammates Katie Boyle, 9, and Rebecca Jawahar, 9,
both third-graders at Holy Cross, said they enjoyed working together.
"It was fun dancing," Katie said, "and I learned
that we all have to work together."
Judge Jessica Czerwin said she competed as a child,
and is enjoying her new role on the other side of the tournament.
"I really appreciate the teams' skits and
creativity," Czerwin said. "It's a huge learning experience for everyone."
THE WINNERS
Here are the top three winners in each division
from Saturday's 29th Delaware Odyssey of the Mind competition at the University
of Delaware.
Earth Trek Div. IA: The
Independence School and Lake Forest Ace Program A tied for first. Booker T.
Washington Elementary second, and Wilson Elementary and Wilmington Christian,
tied for third.
Earth Trek Div. IB: Star
Hill Elementary, first, Linden Hill Elementary, second, and Silver Lake Elementary, third.
Earth Trek Div. II: H.B. du
Pont Middle, first, Independence School, second and Sussex Academy, third.
Earth Trek Div. III: Dover
High, first, Sussex Technical High, second and St. Mark's High, third.
Teach Yer Creature Div. IA:
Indian River Elementary, first, East Dover Elementary, second and Brown
Elementary, third.
Teach Yer Creature Div. IB:
Frear Elementary School, first, Wilson Elementary, and Providence Creek Academy,
tied for second. Lake Forest Ace Program A, and Linden Hill Elementary, tied for
third.
Teach Yer Creature Div. II:
MOT Charter Team A, first, H.B. du Pont Middle, second, and Cab Calloway School
of the Arts A, third.
The Lost Labor of Heracles Div.
IA: North Star Elementary, first, Newark Charter, second, Lake Forest
Ace Program A, third.
The Lost Labor of Heracles Div.
IB: Linden Hill Elementary, and North Laurel Elementary, tied for
first. Holy Cross School, second and Claymont Elementary Team A, third.
The Lost Labor of Heracles Div.
IIA: Lake Forest Ace Program B, first, Alfred G. Waters Middle School Team A, second
and Providence Creek Academy, third.
The Lost Labor of Heracles Div.
IIB: Newark Charter, first, H.B. du Pont Middle, second and Alfred G. Waters Middle School Team B,
third.
The Lost Labor of Heracles Div.
III: Indian River High, first, Dover High, second and Sussex Technical
High, third.
Shock Waves Div. I: Linden
Hill Elementary, first, North Star Elementary, second and Frear Elementary Team
A, third.
Shock Waves Div. II: Skyline
Middle, first, H.B. du Pont Middle, second and Louis L. Redding Middle School Team B,
third.
Shock Waves Div. III: Sussex
Technical High, first, The Charter School of Wilmington, second and Brandywine
High, third.
Superstition Div. IA: Linden
Hill Elementary, first, Olive B. Loss
Elementary, second, and Brown Elementary, third.
Superstition Div. IB:
Providence Creek Academy, first, North Star Elementary, second and Simpson
Elementary, third.
Superstition Div. II: Indian
River Middle, first, MOT Charter Team B, second and Milford Middle, third.
Superstition Div. III: The
Charter School of Wilmington, first, Sussex Technical High, second and Dover
High, third.
Photograph: Silver Lake's
Earth Trek team took third place at the OotM competition at the University of
Delaware on March 7. Bottom row, l to r: Matthew Royer, Joseph Bedard, Jack
Lencyk. Top row, l to r: Olivia Bedard, Shiv Patel, Joshua Philip,
Darien Clarke.
