Bells Mill Elementary - Odyssey of the Mind

We're at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals!

Odyssey of the Mind is a program that teaches creative problem-solving for students from kindergarten through college. Teams work on problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own plays. They compete with other teams on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.  This year, 855 teams are competing in the World Finals – and one of them is from Bells Mill!

Update on the result: Our play ranked in the top half (we ranked 24 and there were 55 teams in our division/problem)! Great for such young kids on their first time out!

Wednesday, May 28

On Wednesday, there is an Opening Ceremonies that begins with a parade. Sophia and Harrison were selected from our team to be the two representatives from Bells Mill with the Maryland group. The others all sat in the stands, ready with glow sticks and noisemakers!

Once the Opening Ceremonies had started, everyone was cheering. It was as loud as a rock concert and just as cool!  There was a standing ovation for Dr. Sam Micklus, who started Odyssey of the Mind more than 35 years ago!

Thursday, May 29

On Thursday morning, our team got started early. One of the activities you can do is "pin trading". Everyone brings special Odyssey of the Mind pins, and trades them with other team members from around the world. Our Bells Mill team designed its very own pin for the World Finals. The orange paint glows in the dark!

Then we went outside to work on decorations for the Maryland state banner. The Bells Mill team painted real crab shells!  After lunch, we had time to watch some other teams performing their play. All that appears on stage – the props, the costumes, the music, and the script – is done by the kids!

Then it was time to get our props ready. Almost everything survived being shipped from Maryland without damage.  However, a few things needed a swift repair. A hot glue gun comes in very handy for such jobs. Sophia and Ryan had to stand on furniture to reach the top of the cloth backdrop for some repairs. All the kids on the Bells Mill team did all the work themselves, and just about all of them got to know how to use the hot glue guns! Our team rehearsed the play a couple of times, using what they learned from watching other teams performing earlier.  They're all very well prepared!  

On Thursday evening, there is a parade with floats and banners. Maryland chose to make a banner. Many other states and countries did the same. Each banner or float is supposed to remind people of something about where the people are from. For Maryland, our banner was about how we hope to decrease pollution in the Chesapeake Bay to save crab habitats. Countries like Togo all dressed in their native fashion, and showed things from their culture. Some teams brought floats - a great one came from Georgia, which is a giant Viking warship made form styrofoam and wood! 

Maryland won one of the awards for the banner parade!  Our team was very surprised and happy with the win. It's a great end to a very full first day.

Friday, May 30

The day of our play performance begins with a healthy breakfast (?), in this case a Cyclone Waffle for Sophia. There's a bit of time to relax before the pressure is on. In the dorm recreation room, we have the first ever Sponge Hockey game being played, with Leah, Sophia, Harrison, and Audrey participating.  I don't know who won. Then, it's time to prepare! At two hours to performance time, we're already getting dressed and putting on makeup.  The girls all learned how to do each others' hair and prepare makeup for the stage.

Off we go to the performance site!  On the way there, we meet Ryan. Once all the costumes are on, the finishing touches – such as Audrey putting pins into Sophia's crown – ensure that we're all ready.The whole team is in perfect form, and everyone is eagerly anticipating the big moment!  We practice the play once, all in costume but without most of the props. At the "Queendom of Natural Beauty" announcement, everyone gestures to a pretty backdrop that isn't there.  The people watching as they pass by seem very confused.

Ryan's puppet's mustache seems perkier than usual. Must be the excitement. We bring all the props to the check-in area. There's a little art activity to focus on our team's hopes for the performance. Then we move the props to the backstage holding area. Finally, the announcer brings us onto the edge of the stage where we await the judges.

The announcer gives our team the go-ahead to begin our play!  When Harrison narrates, he comes forward to the very edge of the stage.  The judge in the jester hat leans forward so they're very close.  The team performs perfectly, with clear voices, excellent stage presence, and using the available space to good effect.  Everyone gets all their lines right, and the timing is brisk.  Out of all the many times we practiced this play, in so many different ways, this seems like it might be the best performance ever.  I think I can speak for every parent there that we couldn't feel happier with the way our kids did.  We applauded heartily.  At the end of the play, the judges all came forward and started asking questions about the details of the performance, the props, the costumes… everything!

It takes almost an hour to get our score sheet and comments. When we do, the comments are very complimentary: "great acting!", "liked the time travel method", "friendly group", "like your bird puppet!", "cute robot!", "loved your Queen Elizabeth! :)", "great teamwork", "liked your energy!", "Elizabeth is so nice I like you!", "Good job!", "Queen costume was very creative", "song and dancing was great", "Queen Elizabeth has an excellent costume!"  After that, it's time to start dismantling the props.  The biggest things, like the castle and throne, are all discarded into a dumpster that's already overflowing with other props.  Just a few hours ago, these were sacred treasures.  Now, they're trash.

Next it's time for some fun!  We go to the Creativity Festival. Harrison tries out a game based on identifying characters in Cantonese, run by an Odyssey group from Hong Kong.  Ryan tries out the game of Omeration (Omer is Odyssey's raccoon mascot), which is like operation but centered around the topics of the Odyssey of the Mind plays.  Sophia and Audrey make thank-you cards to give to the judges.  Next, the two try to work a mechanical invention simulating an elephant picking up and dropping off tennis balls.  Ryan and Harrison try it too.  One person controls the elephant's body, while the other controls his trunk, and both can press a foot pedal to activate a vacuum cleaner to suck up tennis balls and then drop them.

After the Creativity Festival, which also featured a very impressive magic show, it's time to get back to business.  There's the Spontaneous Problem competition for our team on Saturday morning.  We warm up by doing round-robin story invention using the Story Cubes.  Then we try our hand at an invented version of the Seven Dragons card game that requires that team members work together to win.  We try one more new version of the card game where team members have to help others to find the cards they need. The last few hands are very quick as the kids get into the groove.  We're ready for tomorrow!

Saturday, May 31

On our last day, we lined up early with a lot of older teams to head in for the Spontaneous Problem. We had no idea what to expect, but the team was in a great mood and ready to go! The problem was a "verbal hands-on" that the team was well prepared to do, and they felt good about their performance!

The coaches are provided with a tartan "tail" once Spontaneous is done.  A badge of honor?  Or a way to poke fun at the people who've been pushing the teams to do their best for the past eight months?  We took our team photo outside of the Spontaneous building.  Moods were good.  There was a lot of time until the award ceremony, so some pin trading helped the team to decompress.

Then the awards ceremony offered another loud, exhilarating event!  The arena was even more crowded than before!  Dr. Sam led the event, which was like an Academy Awards ceremony. How'd we do? Our play ranked in the top half (we ranked 24 and there were 55 teams in our division/problem)! Great for such young kids on their first time out. The competition was dominated by teams from Singapore, Poland and China. Most importantly, our team had an experience they will never forget. They spent much of the weekend interacting and talking with kids from all over the world; it was definitely an enriching and educational opportunity. 

Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen – including Bells Mill; Bill Klein & Carrie Ann Caswell; all our team parents; and most important, the tremendous effort of our team!