Grayson Teams Perform Well At State Competition

They might not have quite made it to the world championships, but three teams from Grayson competing in the Odyssey of the Mind competition recently just missed the 2nd place finish needed to move up to the world level. Two teams from competing in Division 1 came in third, as did Grayson Cluster Team B in both Division II and III.

“We are very proud of all the Grayson and Cluster teams, as well as the parents who make this program possible,” said Donna Ward, Grayson Elementary School Team Coordinator. “Most of these teams got their start at Grayson Elementary.”

Seven Grayson Odyssey of the Mind teams competed in the state competition April 16 at Columbus State University in Columbus. Students use teamwork and critical thinking skills, along with creativity and a good dose of humor to earn points in categories ranging from building with balsa wood to interpreting classic novel characters in a humorous way.

Odyssey of the Mind is designed to make learning fun again for students amid the stress and studying necessary in today’s CRCT-driven classrooms. Teams are comprised of kids of varying ages, teaching them to work together on complex problems while enjoying themselves. Students have a limited budget and are encouraged to recycle items found at home for sets and costumes.

In the “Extreme Mousemobile” category, in which students build a car that uses a mousetrap as its only source of energy and must make its way through a course with obstacles and challenges, Grayson Cluster Team B placed third in Division III, and Grayson Elementary came in seventh in Division I.

Grayson Elementary received third place in the “As Good as Gold…berg” Division I category, in which students build a complex machine used to complete a simple task, named after inventor and comic artist Rube Goldberg.

“We are extremely proud of this team,” said Ward. “This is their first year as a team, and they got a late start due to losing team members and reforming as a team. They pulled it together.”

This team is comprised of fifth graders and has the special distinction of being one of the only “all boy” teams in the system. Ward said it is a special honor to make it to state competition in a team’s first year together.

In Division II, Grayson Cluster Team B placed third in this event. Grayson Cluster Team A placed fifth, and was awarded eighth place in the “Le Tour Guide” category. In this event, students perform an original script in which a classical character acts as tour guide to a team-created location.

In “Full Circle,” students had to create a humorous skit that showed an item changing states three times before returning to its original form. Grayson Elementary took third place in Division I, with Grayson Cluster Team B coming in fifth with their under-the-sea themed approach to the changes that a crumpled piece of paper can go through.

The teams competed at the Regional level in Flowery Branch and Lilburn last month to secure their place in the state level competition. The top two teams for every category advanced to the World level, which includes students from 26 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.