On Saturday, March 16, 2019, 77 teams of students in grades 3-12 from the Hampton Roads area competed in the Odyssey of the Mind regional tournament at Menchville High School.  Six teams from Poquoson competed at the tournament.  All six of the Poquoson teams placed 1^st and qualified for the State Finals on April 6, 2019 at Manassas Park High School in Manassas, VA. 

Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) is an international problem-solving competition that promotes creative thinking skills.  OotM encourages students to use unique and creative problem solving skills while working together as a team to find solutions.

Teams selected a problem from one of five categories:  vehicle, technical/performance, classics, structure, or performance. 

For the vehicle problem, OMER to the Rescue, Again, the team had to create a vehicle that fit into two suitcases.  During their 8-minute performance, the team had to assemble and ride on the vehicle, have it function in different ways to “save the day.” Between attempts, the vehicle had to be disassembled, put back into the suitcases, and then taken to a different area where it was reassembled and driven again. 

For Hide in Plain Sight, the technical problem, the team had to create and build a team-made mechanical creature that hides in plain sight. The creature had to change its appearance three times to avoid being detected by a Searcher Character.

Classics…Leonardo’s Workshop, the team had to portray Leonardo DaVinci’s workplace in an original, creative performance that included Leonardo, a patron, and a naysayer.  The team also had to recreate a DaVinci painting, make a three-dimensional representation of one of his works, and recreate another work in any other form.

In the structure problem, Structure Toss, teams had to strategize risk for points and “toss” their structure in this year’s problem-turned-carnival. The team had to create a device to toss their structure 4, 7, or 10 feet across the room and passing over a two-foot high bar.  The further it traveled the higher the score! Once the structure was successfully tossed, it was then tested for strength by placing weights on it. 

After showing the projects that they had spent months preparing, the teams were given spontaneous challenges and asked to solve problems that they had never seen until entering the competition room.   

Congratulations to all of these teams and good luck at the Virginia State Competition.

Poquoson Elementary School

1st Place – Hide in Plain Sight:  Nathan Heineman, Jacob Heineman, Hunter Martin, Peyton Bradley, Declan Murianka, Ruby Philbeck, and Evan Stillion

1^st Place – Structure Toss:  Carlton Gill, Mikayla McDaniels, Beau Baggett, Charlee Libby, Evelyn Smith, Skyler Duckworth, and Ayla Weidemann

Poquoson Middle School

1^st Place – Classics…Leonardo’s Workshop: Kennedy Charles, Elizabeth Lamprecht, Victoria Lamprecht, Cassidy Larson, Karen Lee, Kate Lee, and Emalee McAdams

1^st Place – Sturcture Toss:  Cameron Brewer, Jason Norville, AJ Smith, Kristopher Holloway, Dylan Robinson, and Ethan Jordan

PMS and PHS Team

1^st Place – OMER to the Rescue, Again:  Colton Wojewoda, Connor McDaniels, Ella Tinsley, Ella Clarke, Kate Elliot, Cooper Martin, and Sienna Donavant

Poquoson High School

1^st Place – Structure:  Elisabeth Baggett, Colby Baker, Zachary Register, Brody Weston, Kaitlyn Stone, Avery Baker, and Sean Stanton