St. Augustine School Makes History as Odyssey of the Mind Achievers

St. Augustine of Canterbury School is proud to announce its achievement in history.  

Three teams of St. A’s NJ Odyssey of the Mind brought home trophies, medals and a state championship banner from the New Jersey State Finals on April 13. 

One team of students in grades 8, 6 and 4 were given Problem 3 Architecture: the Musical, Div II, NJ State Champion. This team will represent New Jersey at the Odyssey World Finals in East Lansing, Michigan on May 22 through May 25.

This team got here after winning third place in the March Odyssey Regional Tournament.  The students, who worked earnestly since the start of the school year, faced five other schools. 

The challenge was to create a replica of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow using a variety of recycled materials, paint and duct tape. The team created an eight-minute performance that includes two originally composed songs, unique choreography and three pieces of original artwork that disappeared during the skit and were discovered during a quest by the main characters, and were then incorporated into the architecture of the cathedral.

The next team, comprised of students in grade 7 took the second place title in Problem 5; It’s How you Look at it, Div II.  They created a performance that explored how some behaviors are unusual in certain situations, but completely normal in other situations or in a different setting. 

They wrote a script that was based on Hurricane Sandy and the Big Bad Dog (descendant of the Big Bad Wolf) and was a deconstruction of the Three Little Pigs.  Their performance was hilarious, and involved many classic comedy routines such as pie throwing. This team will also represent New Jersey at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at Michigan State University in May as well.

The team of fourth and fifth graders was assigned Problem 3, ARTchitecture:  the Musical, Div I. took the third place title.  This team won first place in the March Regional Tournament and competed against six other schools in the state finals. 

The students came up with all ideas, props and script to create an 8 minute presentation that included disappearing artwork, and quest to find the pieces.   A five-foot tall replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was created and displayed during this challenge along with singing and dancing.     

Principal, Sister Mary Louise Shulas, MPF along with faculty, staff and students are most proud of the Odyssey of the Mind Teams and Coaches.  School pride fills the air as our students embrace the challenges and circumvent success with dedicated hearts.

--St. Augustine of Canterbury School