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St, Augustine of Canterbury Odyssey of the Mind Teams Go to World Finals!

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We are proud to announce that after winning first and second place for their divisions at the Regional Finals of Odyssey of the Mind, two student teams from the fifth and seventh grades at St. Augustine of Canterbury School in Kendall Park won second place in their divisions at the State Finals for NJ. Through this achievement they earned an invitation to compete in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals set to take place at the University of Maryland this Memorial Day weekend, May 28-31.  We are the only school from the Kendall Park, North Brunswick, South Brunswick and Princeton area that will represent New Jersey at this tournament.
At the World Finals, they will compete amongst 800 other teams from over 35 states and 15 countries. We were chosen to be “buddies” with a team from Singapore, so we will act as hosts and enjoy the company of children from over 9500 miles away. What a great opportunity to learn about other cultures and become true citizens of theworld!
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides teams of students with creative problem-solving opportunities. Teams work for months to develop solutions, which they present to judges while competing against other school teams. In Odyssey of the Mind, students learn to cooperate and respect others, work in a team, evaluate ideas, make independent decisions, make confident and powerful presentations in public, stick to a budget, and respect the environment by recycling materials.
The students must solve problems as a team, in two different forms. To solve the “Long Term” form, the children put together an eight minute skit. They must write their own script, design and build scenery, costumes, machines etc. Some of the problems involve building machinery, or creating a song or dance. All without any outside help! In the “Spontaneous” portion of the competition, they solve problems as a team within an eight minute time restraint. They might be asked to build a bridge out of toothpicks, think of 50 different was to use two drinking straws, or any other outrageous thing one can conceive. Needless to say, teamwork and idea acceptance are critical qualities for this portion.
The specific problems chosen by the St. Augustine seventh grade team had them building a true “Rube Goldberg” machine. They designed and built a giant machine based on balls rolling around a structure that is over five feet wide – hitting weighted hammers and moving for over 3 minutes. All just to open a bag of potato chips! In the problem chosen by the fifth grade team, a problem sponsored by NASA, they had to create a scene in which something changed 3 times, and then back to its original form. The kids picked a seed of an imaginary plant that they had grow and produce fruit, while serious scientists and silly farmers explained the growth of a plant to aliens from another galaxy. The contrast between these characters is hilarious. They also had to include a self-made song and dance.
 Odyssey of the mind is a fantastic experience for these children. The competition environment is full of positive energy and sportsmanship and a sense of helping each other is prevalent throughout. The teams enjoy watching their peers compete, and when another team does something well; they compliment and acknowledge a good idea.
A new obstacle since advancing to World Finals is fundraising. Although Odyssey of the Mind is fully run by volunteers, the facilities required to house and feed such a large number of people at the University of Maryland is staggering. The costs will exceed $8000 for the two teams. We pulled together to sell flowers for Mother’s Day, host a White Elephant Sale, solicit local businesses and the people of the St. Augustine of Canterbury community have been exceedingly giving in their generosity.
According to the coaches, they have seen amazing growth in these children from the program. Says one coach, "When we began, the children often clung to “their” idea as the one and only solution. Now, after six months of working together, it is amazing to see how they’ve learned to respect each others thoughts and ideas, and how they overcome obstacles and make decisions as a group. They have opened their minds to look for answers in unusual ways from unusual places." They are truly becoming the leaders and creative problem solvers of the future!
For more informatiuon about this program, please contact Andy Blum, [email protected]