Fifth Graders Take Third Place in State Finals of Odyssey of the Mind Competition

A group of enterprising fifth graders at Markham Place School in Little Silver recently placed third at the New Jersey State Finals of the Odyssey of the Mind held in Ewing on April 9th.  Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students.  Team members apply their ingenuity and creativity to solve various problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.

The team of seven needed to choose one of five problems to solve for the competition.  They decided on “Full Circle,” which required them to write and perform a skit involving “something [that] changes form or appearance at least three times and eventually undergoes a final change where it returns to its original form and appearance.” The team was required to signal the audience each time there was a change. The performance also required the students to include a very silly character, a very serious character, a song and dance, and a surprise ending.

This was the first team in many years to enter the Odyssey of the Mind from Markham Place. 

Rebecca Norton, who acted as the coach for the team and had participated in the program when she was a student at Markham Place, wanted to make that opportunity available to students again.  Her involvement however, was very limited by the rules of the competition. 

“I’m not even allowed to tell the kids to speak up during a rehearsal” she said. “Everything must be done by the children, I can show them how to use a saw to build a background prop or sew a costume, but I can’t touch either project. The kids had to work it out together. The judges even quiz the kids to see where each idea came from.”

They began in September, meeting once a week after school to work on brainstorming exercises provided by the Odyssey of the Mind Program.  Over time the kids have matured and have, for example, learnt to disagree respectfully with each other, a valuable lesson to learn as a 10 year old.

They performed their skit in front of 8 judges at the regional competition in March, placing third.  This gave them the opportunity to compete at the state level on April 9th where they once again placed third.  Unfortunately only the top two teams in the state are eligible to go on to the World Championship.  The team is looking forward to next year when they will compete again but in the 6th to 8th grade division.