Aquebogue's Odyssey of the Mind Team Places Third!

(March 30, 2000) Once again this year, Aquebogue Elementary School's Odyssey of the Mind team placed within the top three at the March 21st regional competition. Last year, in their first year of competition, Aquebogue's team placed second. This year, in their second year of competition, they came in third. The students on this year's team (all fourth graders) included: Kamaria Harris, Michelle Deschamps, Skylar Scioscia, Michael Woolley, Ella Baldwin, Katie Chorao, and Julia Pizzuto. The colorful creature the team designed and created was named Lilly. The team was coached by Mrs. Borenstein and Mrs. Ahern, but all of the work and ideas were completely original to the children. Only the sawing of the wood for the set was done by an adult; everything else was done by the team members.

What is Odyssey of the Mind?

"Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition 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.

In Odyssey of the Mind, students learn at a young age skills that will last a lifetime. They work in teams so they learn cooperation and respect for the ideas of others. They evaluate ideas and make decisions on their own, gaining greater self-confidence and increased self-esteem along the way. They work within a budget, so they learn to manage their money. They see that there's often more than one way to solve a problem, and that sometimes the process is more important than the end result." (These two paragraphs were quotes from www.nysoma.org.)

What did our Team choose to do?
Aquebogue's team chose to compete in the area entitled "Teach Yer Creature." There were five categories to choose from that included: Earth Trek, Teach Yer Creature, The Lost Labor of Hercles, Shock Waves, and Superstition. In the "Teach Yer Creature" category, teams were to create a humorous performance about a mechanical creature (Aquebogue's team chose a platypus) that acts like a real mammal or bird and learns lessons. The rules required that the creature act like a real animal by performing tasks which included traveling, eating, and turning its head. It was also to be taught two lessons by a Creature Teacher and "accidentally" learn a behavior by observing others. During the performance the creature surprised the audience by demonstrating the "accidental" behavior it learned (dancing).

The students also had to participate in a "Spontaneous" question and answer period. Each team enters the judges chambers and must solve a spontaneous problem presented on the day of the competition. Some problems require verbal responses, while others require demonstration or hands-on responses. The spontaneous questions must be kept secret until after the June competition.

There were six other teams (and two city schools) competing in the "Teach Yer Creature" category. The schools competing against each Aquebogue included Albany Avenue School, Buckley Country Day School, Westhampton Beach Elementary School, Northside Elementary School, and Woodward Parkway School. There were about 6-10 teams in each of the five categories at the competition. The winners will go on to compete at the state level.

There will be a repeat performance at Earth Week.
Each year the Odyssey of the Mind team does a repeat performance of its skit at their final assembly during their Earth Week studies. The team always includes an Earth Day element in their performance. This year their very colorful backdrop contained an array of trash floating in the platypus' pond.

What part of the experience did the students enjoy the most?
During a celebratory assembly, the audience asked the students questions about how they made their creature and what part of the competition they enjoyed the most. They answered, “I enjoyed painting the backdrop.” “I enjoyed figuring out how to make our creature move.” “I liked decorating the platypus.” “I liked dancing.”