"OM" World Finals Coming Soon
By Evan VanDerwerkerMay 20, 2010
The 31st annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals competition will take place at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., from May 26 to May 29. Teams from about 25 countries will compete at World Finals, some against the team from Virginia Tech.
Odyssey of the Mind, or OotM, is a global problem-solving competition that incorporates creativity into an eight minute performance that satisfies one of five general problems that change annually. The long-term problems include vehicle, technical performance, classics, performance and structure. Each problem has different scoring components, limitations and rules that must be followed.
Odyssey of the Mind “enables kids to release their creative and artistic abilities to do some pretty amazing things and learn to take risks, fail and recover,” said Jim Bell, a Virginia State judge and cfficials coordinator who met his wife at an OotM tournament. Bell has worked as a judge at World Finals for 23 years and describes it as intense, tiring and an adventure.
“It is an experience that molds a child’s future,” said Bell.
In addition to presenting their long-term problem solutions at competition, teams participate in “spontaneous,” an on-the-spot thinking exercise in which team members are awarded points based on the creativity of their answer to a given problem.
“In the world of OotM, World Finals is the World Series or the Super Bowl,” said Kathy Hixson, a wildlife science major at Virginia Tech and member of the OotM team. “The best of the best teams from all over the world, including countries like China, Poland, the UK, Singapore and South Korea, come to compete in their specific problem and age division…Overall, Worlds is all about the spirit of creativity and team togetherness that OotM creates. It’s really exciting!”
Tyler Price, a math and physics double major at Virginia Tech, has been involved with the program for the last 10 years and is the captain of the Tech OotM team. “Everything you do is evaluated to see how creative it is. OotM encourages you to use whatever you can find and make a solution out of it, a skill I think is very important for life,” Price said.
The team has been raising funds for the past few months to help with the costs of their trip to Michigan. “World Finals does have a fairly large price tag, but the experience is more than worth the cost of going,” said Price. “We are also planning to hold some bake sales on campus and around Blacksburg during the rest of the semester to try and raise more funds for our trip.”
Mariah Skalka, a senior homeschooler whose team qualified for World Finals recently, said, “I am always very impressed with structure teams. I saw the Virginia Tech team last year. Their props, set and script were great. Their structure held much more than my brother and my weight combined.”
“We held 957 pounds at state competition with an 18 gram structure made only of balsa wood and glue,” Hixson said.
Comments (23)
My team was at World Finals and went to see the VT team (along with most of the other Virginia teams). We were thrilled to see the Tech team set a new world record(and, of course,beat Penn State). The energy from the fans was amazing. Who knew there were so many Hokie fans in Michigan!
Mickey | May 31, 2010 11:04 PMWow!! My Odyssey team was present at the competition and got the chance to see the VT team work their magic. Considering that VT is known for it's architectural programs, what better way to show how good they are at building than at a global problem solving competition like OOTM?! Not only did they beat Penn State, but also a team from Russia! Go VT!
Keenan Angel | June 1, 2010 2:46 PMMy children are involved in Odyssey of the Mind and my son got the chance to see the Virginia Tech team at the International level at Michigan State. I am still shocked at the weight that the structure held. I believe more than a thousand pounds was held. If the team was able to set a World Record then I'm guessing that VT is doing something very right. Good job VT!
Renae | June 1, 2010 4:31 PMI was on a Virginia team that had the fantastic opportunity to travel to World's. Our whole team watched the Virginia Tech Column Structure Team, and it was incredible. They broke a world record, beating teams from Penn State and Russia. They worked so well together! Everyone was yelling and screaming for the Hokie team; it was very inspiring to see that many people coming together to support a team!
Sarah Laughon | June 1, 2010 4:32 PMMy team from Virginia made it to World Finals for the second time this year and we were able to see VT's performance. Of all the different college teams there, we didn't see one that had as nearly as much support as Virginia. They exceeded all expectations and amazed everyone! It was truly amazing to watch as they broke the world record!!
Lorin Cahow | June 1, 2010 4:51 PMI also participate in OOTM. I saw VT's preformance this year and last year, they are fabulous. I talked to teams from other states and they said VT's preformance was the best they saw. I hope to have the oppertunity to see them again, and maybe one day join a VT oOTM team.
Kenzie | June 1, 2010 5:25 PMMy team and I also had the opportunity to participate at the World Finals this year. We had the pleasure of watching the Virgina Tech team as they performed. It was truly amazing to see their little structure bear so much weight; they broke the world record with 1120 lbs! I hope to see them next year being just as impressive and on top of their game as always.
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