Students go on mind odyssey





BRAIN GAMES—Fifth-graders from Oak Hills Elementary School win first place in Division 1 for the problem category “Experiencing Techincal Difficulties” at the 2015 L.A. Basin Region Odyssey of the Mind Competition. Front row from left: Meghna Nair, Ashwika Murugan. Middle row: Sandhya Sridhar, Thomas Tesoro. Back row: Kyle Haggart, Saisidharth Senthilnathan, Shubham Kumar.

BRAIN GAMES—Fifth-graders from Oak Hills Elementary School win first place in Division 1 for the problem category “Experiencing Techincal Difficulties” at the 2015 L.A. Basin Region Odyssey of the Mind Competition. Front row from left: Meghna Nair, Ashwika Murugan. Middle row: Sandhya Sridhar, Thomas Tesoro. Back row: Kyle Haggart, Saisidharth Senthilnathan, Shubham Kumar.

Students from Oak Park’s three elementary schools and Medea Creek Middle School have been on a creative odyssey that culminated in a competition on Feb. 28.

The Odyssey of the Mind competition at San Marino High School resulted in two Oak Park Unified School District teams making it to the state finals this Saturday at UC Riverside.

Debbie Hammill, OPUSD’s science specialist, said 11 teams competed in the Odyssey of the Mind contest, in which students tackle problems creatively while having fun.

The teams of five to seven students choose what kind of problem they’d like to tackle. For instance, one of the teams headed for the state tournament chose the “Runaway Train” challenge to design, build and operate one or more vehicles that run on tracks and overcome obstacles while traveling between stations.

According to Hammill, the train challenge pushed students to ponder how their vehicles could overcome a variety of obstacles, like moving uphill or towing something.

The complexity of each challenge is modified according to the age level of the team. Students from kindergarten through college participate in the competition.

Another challenge that students undertook was “Experiencing Technical Difficulties,” where teams had to design and build devices that could complete specifi c tasks such as ringing a bell or sounding an alarm. The challenge required all of the devices to be powered by rubber bands.

In the “Pandora’s Box” challenge, students acted out a video game inspired by the Greek myth. The eight-minute demonstration had to include three characters that represented escaped evils and a power meter to represent the gamer character’s health. To win the game, the player had to finish all levels and release hope into the world.

Other challenges were “Lose Your Marbles,” “Silent Movie” and “Wacky Weather Warning,” all of which encouraged participants to find creative solutions using scientific know-how and artistic expression.

Ameeta Batra coached the sixth-grade Medea Creek Middle School team that is headed to the California competition. The team chose the “Runaway Train” challenge and came in second out of five teams. All teams that placed first, second and third in the regional competition moved on to the state contest.

Batra said the students named their team “TT” because their story was based on time travel. The team had to conduct plenty of tests to make sure their vehicles worked. The coach said sticking to the rules of the challenge was paramount to their success.

“It’s a wonderful program for kids to explore and think out of the box, consider different aspects of a problem, work as a team, work within a budget and within a given timeline,” she said. “There are so many aspects to the solution that every member is able to find their area of interest and expertise.”

An Oak Hills Elementary School team placed first in the Division I competition, which includes students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The team chose the “Experiencing Technical Difficulties” challenge.

Sreelekha Pillai was a cocoach for the Oak Hills team.

Danica Gortner, a fifth-grade student at Brookside Elementary School, may not have won the chance to compete in the state contest, but she said just being able to participate was a great experience.

“I find it mind-blowing how we were able to cooperate so well and create such an amazing play in only a few months,” she said.

Danica’s mother, Cindi Gortner, and Diane Carr coached the team of six students.

Gortner said the “Pandora’s Box” challenge allowed students to “brainstorm, think more creatively, run a meeting, negotiate, and design and build a 10-inchby 7-inch set.”

The students had to write a play with both humor and a moral to their story, design and create props and costumes, and develop improvisational skills.

They also had to stick to a $125 budget.

“It was an absolute joy to coach them and witness how hard they worked, how much they grew through the process, how much fun they had and how proud they were of their accomplishments,”

Gortner said. “I am very grateful to Friends of Oak Park Schools and OPUSD for providing the opportunity.”

Barry Myerson, chair of Friends of Oak Park Schools, an education foundation that supports many programs in Oak Park, said in an email that he was thrilled that the district’s inaugural program was so well-received by parents.

“We hoped to get one team from each of the three elementary schools and one from Medea as this was our first year in this program and it would be a way to get our feet wet,” Myerson said. “We ended up with 11 teams consisting of 70 students. What is even more exciting is that this program is truly ‘old school,’ where the students meet in houses, garages, and (it) involves parent coaches as opposed to teachers.”

Teams that win at the state level will compete for the world title at Michigan State University in May.


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