BINGHAMTON - If you happened to stumble on an Odyssey of the Mind competition without the slightest inkling of what one was, you might think you've entered Wonderland, where mimes give you weather forecasts, tigers cook you pizza and a rat plays a mandolin before morphing into a princess.
But it's this type of improvisational creativity that students conjure up in competitions that teachers say makes these events serious life-learning tools.
Schools from the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES were well represented Saturday as the 25th annual Odyssey of the Mind state finals were staged at Binghamton University.
And a couple of teams - State Street Elementary School and Cato-Meridian Middle School - took the titles in their respective division.
The winners will represent New York at the World Finals in May at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"It really promotes team work and thinking on your feet," said Joe Lorah, father of Moravia High student Samantha.
Samantha's team, which included Amber Gryziec, Jacob Marnell, Shawn Kowl and Megan Benson, competed in Stunt Mobiles, a competition that required teams to build two vehicles that could tackle an obstacle course and break balloons.
While Marnell attempted to propel the first vehicle toward the target - a pink balloon - his teammates performed a skit. Its theme was "redneck dating," modeled after ubiquitous television reality dating shows. Three southern-sounding fellows, played by the girls, vied for the hand of Olga, a less-than-attractive looking female, played by Kowl, who was dolled up to look like a woman.
"Shawn always plays the misfit characters," Benson said.
Moravia coach Lorrie Tily said the students have put in hundred of hours since September preparing for the event.
"We've put in around 40 hours just in the last two weeks," Tily said.
The event on Saturday didn't go quite as planned for the Moravia team, though. The first vehicle veered off track a number of times, missing the target, and the team ran out of time (each event is timed at eight minutes). The students walked out of the event looking dejected. They've made it to Worlds for two straight years, and the streak was in jeopardy.
"It just shows you anything can happen," Marnell said. "Not everything goes your way all the time. So it was a good learning experience."
Team coordinator Pat Kinney said the students work on developing solutions to the tasks by themselves; adults are not allowed to help. She believes the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES program, which coordinates the local teams, is one of the strongest programs in the state.
"If you look at the schools that are here, most of them are from the big cities," she said. "But we have a great showing from our area. To have this available to small, rural schools is great. It shows we can compete."
Port Byron's middle school team of Derrick Cheney, Zachary Leja, Zachariah Phillips, Kira Hoffman, Gabrielle Ortiz, Heather Kurtz and Michael Borst competed in the Laugh-A-Thon, which challenged teams to present a humorous routine.
The sixth-graders put on a performance of a morning television show, in high speed. There was a mime delivering the weather report, a set of dueling cheerleaders and an announcement that the food pyramid was now changed to the "sugar pyramid," which called for several servings of chocolate and sweets.
Port Byron coordinator Suzanne Brehaut said the event is really an Olympics of the mind, where students use their creativity and intellect to craft their own scene.
"Really, it teaches them about creative quick thinking," she said. "If something goes wrong, they have to adapt. It's like the real world."
And it's also about fun. Emily Dusseau, Melody Ward, Amber Lefever, Kelley Lloyd, Emily Lockett and Nicole Lefever competed in the Laugh-A-Thon for Moravia High. Their skit was called "a soup opera," a soap opera about food.
"We have a great time doing this," said Amber. "You get a chance to make something out of nothing. And get a chance to go to Colorado."
Staff writer Benning W. De La Mater can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or ben.delamater@lee.net
Schools from the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES were well represented Saturday as the 25th annual Odyssey of the Mind state finals were staged at Binghamton University.
And a couple of teams - State Street Elementary School and Cato-Meridian Middle School - took the titles in their respective division.
The winners will represent New York at the World Finals in May at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"It really promotes team work and thinking on your feet," said Joe Lorah, father of Moravia High student Samantha.
Samantha's team, which included Amber Gryziec, Jacob Marnell, Shawn Kowl and Megan Benson, competed in Stunt Mobiles, a competition that required teams to build two vehicles that could tackle an obstacle course and break balloons.
While Marnell attempted to propel the first vehicle toward the target - a pink balloon - his teammates performed a skit. Its theme was "redneck dating," modeled after ubiquitous television reality dating shows. Three southern-sounding fellows, played by the girls, vied for the hand of Olga, a less-than-attractive looking female, played by Kowl, who was dolled up to look like a woman.
"Shawn always plays the misfit characters," Benson said.
Moravia coach Lorrie Tily said the students have put in hundred of hours since September preparing for the event.
"We've put in around 40 hours just in the last two weeks," Tily said.
The event on Saturday didn't go quite as planned for the Moravia team, though. The first vehicle veered off track a number of times, missing the target, and the team ran out of time (each event is timed at eight minutes). The students walked out of the event looking dejected. They've made it to Worlds for two straight years, and the streak was in jeopardy.
"It just shows you anything can happen," Marnell said. "Not everything goes your way all the time. So it was a good learning experience."
Team coordinator Pat Kinney said the students work on developing solutions to the tasks by themselves; adults are not allowed to help. She believes the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES program, which coordinates the local teams, is one of the strongest programs in the state.
"If you look at the schools that are here, most of them are from the big cities," she said. "But we have a great showing from our area. To have this available to small, rural schools is great. It shows we can compete."
Port Byron's middle school team of Derrick Cheney, Zachary Leja, Zachariah Phillips, Kira Hoffman, Gabrielle Ortiz, Heather Kurtz and Michael Borst competed in the Laugh-A-Thon, which challenged teams to present a humorous routine.
The sixth-graders put on a performance of a morning television show, in high speed. There was a mime delivering the weather report, a set of dueling cheerleaders and an announcement that the food pyramid was now changed to the "sugar pyramid," which called for several servings of chocolate and sweets.
Port Byron coordinator Suzanne Brehaut said the event is really an Olympics of the mind, where students use their creativity and intellect to craft their own scene.
"Really, it teaches them about creative quick thinking," she said. "If something goes wrong, they have to adapt. It's like the real world."
And it's also about fun. Emily Dusseau, Melody Ward, Amber Lefever, Kelley Lloyd, Emily Lockett and Nicole Lefever competed in the Laugh-A-Thon for Moravia High. Their skit was called "a soup opera," a soap opera about food.
"We have a great time doing this," said Amber. "You get a chance to make something out of nothing. And get a chance to go to Colorado."
Staff writer Benning W. De La Mater can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or ben.delamater@lee.net
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