Two WVCSD Odyssey teams bring home trophies from Worlds

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Two WVCSD Odyssey teams bring home trophies from Worlds

June 8, 2022

Congratulations to the two WVCSD Odyssey of the Mind (OM) teams who competed in the OM World Finals at the end of May, at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Both the Sanfordville and WVHS OM teams brought home second place trophies for their creative and innovative problem-solving and presentations amid a field of tough competition from far and wide. 

The Sanfordville OM team completed in Problem #1, entitled “Escape vroOM.”

The challenge: Create a performance that includes one or more team-built vehicles that will help their group of characters escape an unusual room. The judges loved Sanfordville’s extraordinary concept for their escape room, a life-sized blender in which students appeared as fruits racing against time to escape before getting blended into a smoothie. The presentation was filled with fruit puns in almost every line, which had the judges laughing throughout the performance. In a nail-biting performance, the team encountered two unexpected problems that they solved on the spot before time ran out! Not only did they fix both issues, but they succeeded in scoring the maximum number of points available for their vehicles. 

Team members include John Powers, Max Powers, Blake Harrison, Eamonn Byrne, Angelica Costanza, Madison Candia and Lilah Diaz. The team is coached by Heidi Powers and Dan Powers, who said it has been a true privilege to work with such an amazing group of students, and shared their gratitude for the district and community’s support.

The WVHS OM team took on Problem #2, entitled “Odyssey ReOMvention.”

The team was asked to present a performance identifying an original threat to the environment that self-replicates until a team-created technical reOMvention removes the threat. The performance needed to include original music, two animal characters, and baking soda. The panel of judges were impressed with the artistic talents of the WVHS team, but were really dazzled by the use of chemistry in their solution! Team members included Alanna Adee, Sophia Amato, Cavan Byrne, Mary Hoey, Olivia Holland, Sophia Samborski and Arianna Weinberg. The team was coached by Casey Mears.

“I’m very proud of the team,” said Coach Mears. “They worked very hard and earned all of their accomplishments.”

Please join us in congratulating both OM teams for their creativity, innovation, commitment to learning, resiliency, and teamwork in achieving their goals.

 

   

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