Editor's note: This is the third in a three-part series profiling local teams that are competing at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.
From falling scenery to last-minute cast replacements to a shoe accidentally dropped into a toilet, this Odyssey of the Mind group has experienced quite a lot.
But State Street Elementary School's Division I, Team A, which tackled the solution to “The Eccentrics!,” the competition's science-related performance problem, members simply rolled with the changes to earn a spot at the 2008 Odyssey World Finals at the University of Maryland.
The seven-member team, none of whom have much - or in some cases any - experience with Odyssey of the Mind, performed like seasoned veterans while breezing to first- and second-place finishes at the Region 11 and state competitions, respectively.
“As much as any other year I've coached, this has been a totally cooperative team effort,” said Kathy Herr, Team A coach.
Herr, who is joined by fellow coaches Patti Cottrill and Jackie Gage, is a teacher at State Street who has led a team annually for more than a decade.
“(The team members) have been so good to each other. If you can come with a team like this that blends so well, it's a great thing,” she added.
Back in the fall, Herr explained, team members met to brainstorm ideas for their solution skit. Every OOTM skit is rigidly timed at eight minutes, so team members' ideas about how to solve the problem must be as precise and effective as possible.
The problem synopsis for “The Eccentrics!,” OOTM's science-related dilemma sponsored annually by NASA, “requires teams to create and present a humorous performance about three eccentric characters that demonstrate odd behavior, peculiar mannerisms and unconventional dress.”
“One of our characters is Dr. Frizzable Tizzable, who's a wacky science teacher,” Herr said.
During the skit, Dr. Frizzable Tizzable retires and awards a prized science book to his favorite student, a boy named Gram.
To portray his “unconventional dress,” Herr said team members had a flash of brilliance.
“They came up with the idea of gluing gram weights they found in the science room all over Gram's coat. So it was a cute play on words,” she said.
Meanwhile in the skit, Dr. Coldamaker is causing “global colding” because he wants to live somewhere freezing.
In keeping with the problem synopsis, which states teams must create and solve a problem within a specific Earth system such as the atmosphere or biosphere, the group chose to use the geosphere to find Dr. Coldamaker.
“(The geosphere) was in the table of contents of Gram's science book, so they 'jumped into' the book to find him,” Herr said.
In the end, Dr. Frizzable Tizzable and Gram talk Dr. Coldamaker into moving to Antarctica, and everybody is happy.
The synopsis also requires the team to launch a new fad during the skit.
“Dr. Coldamaker had these cool glasses on. They were made out of plastic cups, so each of the kids super-glued cups to a pair of glasses. That was their new fad,” Herr said.
Starting in January, the team rehearsed the skit a seemingly infinite number of times, until they were prepared to perform at Skaneateles' OOTM community demonstration March 12.
And it was there they first faced adversity.
The day of the demonstration, team member Sadie Weiss came down with the flu, so Herr's daughter, fourth-grade team member Bailey, stepped in and filled Weiss' role with no rehearsal.
“That's part of what they learn in Odyssey ... life skills, and the kids really learn to support each other,” Herr had said a few weeks prior.
At the Region 11 competition held March 15 in Auburn, the team was back in full force - only this time, the skit's scenery was their foe.
“We had a big sign, and it fell right in the middle of the performance,” Herr recalled. “But they knew enough to go over and fix it and not worry about their parts.
“I was just so proud of them,” she added.
Flawed or not, the team destroyed its competitors on the way to a first-place finish and a trip to the state tournament at Binghamton University.
At that competition, held March 29, Herr said things went a bit haywire.
As team member Taylor Cottrill was dressing for the performance in a bathroom stall, one of her shoes accidentally fell in the toilet.
“We were drying her shoe right up until the time we went on, because it was just soaking wet,” Herr said with a long laugh.
In Binghamton, she said, the team took its performance to another level. Though all team members were excellent, Herr heaped praise on fourth-grader Jimmy Drancsak and his portrayal of Gram.
“He was on fire that day. His mannerisms, the faces he made ... there was stuff we'd never seen him do before,” she said.
Drancsak believes his entire team deserves credit.
“We've all worked together as one big group,” he said. “I love having so many people honor us and say 'Congratulations.'”
The team's performance at the state competition earned them second place, and with it a trip to Maryland May 31.
Though Herr previously attended the 2005 OOTM World Finals in Colorado to watch her son, Connor, perform, this will be her first trip as a coach.
“That first night, you feel like you're at the Olympics,” she said. “The teams walk in by country, then by state ... it's all very exciting.”
State Street Elementary (Skaneateles) Div. I, Team A
Team Members:
Taylor Cottrill
Jimmy Drancsak
Olivia Gage
James Hackler
Bailey Herr
Bailey Parsons
Sadie Weiss
Coaches:
Patti Cottrill
Jackie Gage
Kathy Herr
PROBLEM: The Eccentrics!
SYNOPSIS: This problem requires teams to create and present a humorous performance about three Eccentric Characters that demonstrate odd behavior, peculiar mannerisms, and unconventional dress. The performance will include a team-created “problem” within or involving an Earth system - the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, or hydrosphere. The Eccentric Characters, which seem to be misfits, will solve the problem. As a reward, a celebration is held in their honor and they end up launching a new fad.
But State Street Elementary School's Division I, Team A, which tackled the solution to “The Eccentrics!,” the competition's science-related performance problem, members simply rolled with the changes to earn a spot at the 2008 Odyssey World Finals at the University of Maryland.
The seven-member team, none of whom have much - or in some cases any - experience with Odyssey of the Mind, performed like seasoned veterans while breezing to first- and second-place finishes at the Region 11 and state competitions, respectively.
“As much as any other year I've coached, this has been a totally cooperative team effort,” said Kathy Herr, Team A coach.
Herr, who is joined by fellow coaches Patti Cottrill and Jackie Gage, is a teacher at State Street who has led a team annually for more than a decade.
“(The team members) have been so good to each other. If you can come with a team like this that blends so well, it's a great thing,” she added.
Back in the fall, Herr explained, team members met to brainstorm ideas for their solution skit. Every OOTM skit is rigidly timed at eight minutes, so team members' ideas about how to solve the problem must be as precise and effective as possible.
The problem synopsis for “The Eccentrics!,” OOTM's science-related dilemma sponsored annually by NASA, “requires teams to create and present a humorous performance about three eccentric characters that demonstrate odd behavior, peculiar mannerisms and unconventional dress.”
“One of our characters is Dr. Frizzable Tizzable, who's a wacky science teacher,” Herr said.
During the skit, Dr. Frizzable Tizzable retires and awards a prized science book to his favorite student, a boy named Gram.
To portray his “unconventional dress,” Herr said team members had a flash of brilliance.
“They came up with the idea of gluing gram weights they found in the science room all over Gram's coat. So it was a cute play on words,” she said.
Meanwhile in the skit, Dr. Coldamaker is causing “global colding” because he wants to live somewhere freezing.
In keeping with the problem synopsis, which states teams must create and solve a problem within a specific Earth system such as the atmosphere or biosphere, the group chose to use the geosphere to find Dr. Coldamaker.
“(The geosphere) was in the table of contents of Gram's science book, so they 'jumped into' the book to find him,” Herr said.
In the end, Dr. Frizzable Tizzable and Gram talk Dr. Coldamaker into moving to Antarctica, and everybody is happy.
The synopsis also requires the team to launch a new fad during the skit.
“Dr. Coldamaker had these cool glasses on. They were made out of plastic cups, so each of the kids super-glued cups to a pair of glasses. That was their new fad,” Herr said.
Starting in January, the team rehearsed the skit a seemingly infinite number of times, until they were prepared to perform at Skaneateles' OOTM community demonstration March 12.
And it was there they first faced adversity.
The day of the demonstration, team member Sadie Weiss came down with the flu, so Herr's daughter, fourth-grade team member Bailey, stepped in and filled Weiss' role with no rehearsal.
“That's part of what they learn in Odyssey ... life skills, and the kids really learn to support each other,” Herr had said a few weeks prior.
At the Region 11 competition held March 15 in Auburn, the team was back in full force - only this time, the skit's scenery was their foe.
“We had a big sign, and it fell right in the middle of the performance,” Herr recalled. “But they knew enough to go over and fix it and not worry about their parts.
“I was just so proud of them,” she added.
Flawed or not, the team destroyed its competitors on the way to a first-place finish and a trip to the state tournament at Binghamton University.
At that competition, held March 29, Herr said things went a bit haywire.
As team member Taylor Cottrill was dressing for the performance in a bathroom stall, one of her shoes accidentally fell in the toilet.
“We were drying her shoe right up until the time we went on, because it was just soaking wet,” Herr said with a long laugh.
In Binghamton, she said, the team took its performance to another level. Though all team members were excellent, Herr heaped praise on fourth-grader Jimmy Drancsak and his portrayal of Gram.
“He was on fire that day. His mannerisms, the faces he made ... there was stuff we'd never seen him do before,” she said.
Drancsak believes his entire team deserves credit.
“We've all worked together as one big group,” he said. “I love having so many people honor us and say 'Congratulations.'”
The team's performance at the state competition earned them second place, and with it a trip to Maryland May 31.
Though Herr previously attended the 2005 OOTM World Finals in Colorado to watch her son, Connor, perform, this will be her first trip as a coach.
“That first night, you feel like you're at the Olympics,” she said. “The teams walk in by country, then by state ... it's all very exciting.”
State Street Elementary (Skaneateles) Div. I, Team A
Team Members:
Taylor Cottrill
Jimmy Drancsak
Olivia Gage
James Hackler
Bailey Herr
Bailey Parsons
Sadie Weiss
Coaches:
Patti Cottrill
Jackie Gage
Kathy Herr
PROBLEM: The Eccentrics!
SYNOPSIS: This problem requires teams to create and present a humorous performance about three Eccentric Characters that demonstrate odd behavior, peculiar mannerisms, and unconventional dress. The performance will include a team-created “problem” within or involving an Earth system - the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, or hydrosphere. The Eccentric Characters, which seem to be misfits, will solve the problem. As a reward, a celebration is held in their honor and they end up launching a new fad.
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