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| Ewan O'Shea, Ashylnn Cuthbert, Nick Verrill, Cameron Weeks, Marek Slomczynski, Nick Jenkins, Adam Slomczynski submitted |
For the
second time, a team of elementary students from Windham Primary and Manchester
Schools is heading to Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. Odyssey of the Mind (OotM)
is an international creative problem-solving program that engages students in
their learning by allowing their knowledge and ideas to come to life in an
exciting, productive environment. Participants build self-confidence, develop
life skills, create new friendships, and are able to recognize and explore
their true potential. OotM proves that students can have fun while they learn.
This
annual event is taking place at Michigan State University, in East Lansing
Michigan, from May 22 to 25. Seven energetic students, in grades three to five,
along with their fearless coaches/ parents are heading west on Tuesday, May 21 for
the 15 to 18-hour drive. The students and their respective grades are: Nick Verrill (5), Nick Jenkins (5),
Cameron Weeks (4), Ewan O’Shea (5), Marek Slomczynski (5), Ashlynn Cuthbert (4)
and Adam Slomczynski (3). The first five of which previously competed in the
OotM World Finals, along with their coach April O’Shea.
Opening
Ceremonies will take place on Wednesday, May 22. Thursday, Friday and Saturday
will be days filled with competitions and other creative activities. There will
be a Creativity Festival, an International Festival, a Coaches &
Officials Competition, NASA-sponsored events, and a lot of pin trading!
When
the students were asked what they were looking forward to at the event, the
returning members emphatically agreed, “pin trading!” Trading Odyssey of the
Mind pins (from various states as well as countries) is a tradition that goes
back more than 35 years. Millions of pins have been traded and thousands of
friendships have been made during this time. Returning students scored
pins from such countries as Australia, Canada and Mexico! More specifically, M.
Slomczynski said “I am looking forward to seeing a Polish team and teams from
other countries.”
The
team qualified for World Finals as a result of their solution to their chosen
problem: “Hide in Plain Site.” Their 8-minute skit involved four scenes in
which a searcher was seeking a sea creature that morphed into many forms,
including an octopus with tentacles that moved via the team’s custom-made
hydraulic system! Everyone on the team had a character in the play or worked
the creature.
When
asked how they figured all this out, Cuthbert indicated “We did research using
YouTube. YouTube is gold!”
To
perfect their performance, Jenkins emphasized, “We have done this well over 12
times!”
They
began developing their solution, made almost entirely of recycled materials, in
October. Cuthbert mentioned that she made a skirt from fabric scraps. And,
their diving suit was made from trash bags. To achieve additional style points,
the team made an antique-style phone.
In
addition to the fun, each member had something to say about the outstanding
experience they’ve had with the program, the majority indicating they’ll be
doing it again. Verrill mentioned, “You learn that you can make a lot of stuff if
you think about it. And, you get a lot of new friendships.” Jenkins reinforced,
“This was fun to do because you can be creative with props and jokes and are
not required to do one thing.” O’Shea proudly stated, “If you work hard and win
you can go to Michigan.” The team emphasized that everyone has their own
talents and OotM brings them out. Whether it is writing, building, creating,
etc., the whole team works together, as it can’t be just one person’s effort. Slomczynski reinforced this by commenting “I have
learned that it is a team effort. You have to work together to solve the
problem.”
The community
of Windham has two opportunities to support the team, by helping to fund their
trip to Michigan. At the present time they are about 50% funded, primarily by
parents of these outstanding students. To assist, consider visiting their fundraising
page at:
www.gofundme.com/windham-odyssey-of-the-mind. Alternatively, if you’d like to take in a movie
while helping to fund the team, they have partnered with Smitty’s Cinema. You
may buy an $11 ticket good for any showing at Smitty’s Windham location on May
5. Half of the ticket price goes to the team. Tickets are available at the
Manchester school and seating is on a first come, first served basis.
As
stated by Ewinn, “Odyssey of the Mind confirms we all have talents and the goal
is to make them even better.”
Go
team!
