Southwest third and fourth graders to compete at World Final in Odyssey competition

March 23, 2016
Charlea Estes
A group of extremely creative third and fourth graders have worked hard over the last five months, and that hard work has paid off. Southwest Elementary’s first Odyssey of the Mind team earned an invitation to the World Finals in Iowa in May. Now their coach and the Southwest Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) is raising money to get them there to compete.
Odyssey of the Mind is a competition that encourages creative problem solving for kids from elementary school all the way through college-age. This is the first year that the PTO sponsored a team. Team coach Marlene Benninger said that program is an opportunity for kids to explore a side of themselves that they might not be able to otherwise within the confines of a classroom.
She said, “This is PTO’s baby. I’m the coach, but the PTO is trying to bring some sort of gifted and talented program back into the school.”
This year’s team consists of seven students, five are fourth graders and two are third graders. Students were selected by their teachers. This year’s team is fourth graders Natalie Sanko, Charlie Pippin, Tehya Ross, Brendyn Paulsen and Landon Bernard and third graders Sinclair Dahl, and Kasen Holder.
Benninger stated, “I told them that it isn’t just the smart kids, but the really creative kids. This might be the kid that can’t sit still in their seat, but oftentimes that is the most creative kid. It’s a creativity standard. We want kids who can think outside of the box.”
To be invited to the World Finals, Southwest’s team first had to compete at the State level. This year’s State competition was in Rolla, and Southwest will be the only elementary team representing Missouri at the final competition which includes not only teams from the United States, but 25 other countries, as well.
At the beginning of the year, the team is presented with a problem. Southwest Elementary’s team was given the problem called “Furs, Fins, Feathers and Friends,” and the kids had to write their play, do their costumes, makeup and set all on their own.
Benninger said, “It’s a creative problem solving competition, and basically the kids are given a long term problem at the beginning of the year, and then they had to be creative and perform an original eight-minute production performance that meets a variety of requirements.”
Every element of the project, even the set design, has to be done entirely by the group of kids without outside help from adults. The kids even had to write an original song as part of the requirements. She explained, “They get penalized if they receive any outside help out of the seven teammates. They write their own script. They write their own music. They make their own props. They make their own costumes.
“For example, if they had to cut PVC pipe to make a window for their presentation, and my husband was able to teach them how to cut PVC, but they had to make what they were using for their performance.
“If it’s too dangerous for them to do it, they need to find a different way to do it.”
Beyond set design, the adults also help them learn other skills to make sure they prepare for competition. She said, “We taught them to sew, and they did their own face painting and makeup.”
The eight minutes that they have to perform includes setting up for their performance and doing their play. Then, there is also a spontaneous section during the competition. Benninger said, “They’re put in a room without coaches, and they’re asked a question that they are given a couple minutes to solve. They get points for how creative or humorous their answers are.”
After it was all said and done, Southwest’s team took first and advanced to the World Finals, which is a huge accomplishment for any team, but doubly-so considering this is the first year for their team.
Now, the team has to raise funds to get the kids to the World Finals. Benninger said, “It’s hard and expensive, and PTO has limited funds and limited volunteers. PTO is very much at risk of ending after this year. We only have five volunteers, and that would end all of these programs, including the STEAM fair.
“We’re just trying to bring that extra opportunity for the gifted to offer to the students.”
Students had an unbelievable amount of dedication to get this far in the competition. Each week, they spend four hours after school working on their project.
The Southwest PTO is seeking donations to raise the $10,000 that it is going to take to get the kids to the competition. Benninger said, “It’s $600 per person just for lodging and food, and that doesn’t include transportation. We have fundraisers planned, but it’s going to take a lot of support to get these kids there.”
She continued, “It’s an amazing experience. That experience from elementary school is, to this day, one of the best experiences of my life.
“We’re desperately trying to raise the money to get the kids there.”
The group also has a GoFundMe page set up for people to make individual donations to their team. The site can be reached online at https://www.gofundme.com/omworldfinals. If you would prefer to make a donation directly, Benninger can be contacted at (417) 846-7308.
Charlea Estes
A group of extremely creative third and fourth graders have worked hard over the last five months, and that hard work has paid off. Southwest Elementary’s first Odyssey of the Mind team earned an invitation to the World Finals in Iowa in May. Now their coach and the Southwest Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) is raising money to get them there to compete.
Odyssey of the Mind is a competition that encourages creative problem solving for kids from elementary school all the way through college-age. This is the first year that the PTO sponsored a team. Team coach Marlene Benninger said that program is an opportunity for kids to explore a side of themselves that they might not be able to otherwise within the confines of a classroom.
She said, “This is PTO’s baby. I’m the coach, but the PTO is trying to bring some sort of gifted and talented program back into the school.”
This year’s team consists of seven students, five are fourth graders and two are third graders. Students were selected by their teachers. This year’s team is fourth graders Natalie Sanko, Charlie Pippin, Tehya Ross, Brendyn Paulsen and Landon Bernard and third graders Sinclair Dahl, and Kasen Holder.
Benninger stated, “I told them that it isn’t just the smart kids, but the really creative kids. This might be the kid that can’t sit still in their seat, but oftentimes that is the most creative kid. It’s a creativity standard. We want kids who can think outside of the box.”
To be invited to the World Finals, Southwest’s team first had to compete at the State level. This year’s State competition was in Rolla, and Southwest will be the only elementary team representing Missouri at the final competition which includes not only teams from the United States, but 25 other countries, as well.
At the beginning of the year, the team is presented with a problem. Southwest Elementary’s team was given the problem called “Furs, Fins, Feathers and Friends,” and the kids had to write their play, do their costumes, makeup and set all on their own.
Benninger said, “It’s a creative problem solving competition, and basically the kids are given a long term problem at the beginning of the year, and then they had to be creative and perform an original eight-minute production performance that meets a variety of requirements.”
Every element of the project, even the set design, has to be done entirely by the group of kids without outside help from adults. The kids even had to write an original song as part of the requirements. She explained, “They get penalized if they receive any outside help out of the seven teammates. They write their own script. They write their own music. They make their own props. They make their own costumes.
“For example, if they had to cut PVC pipe to make a window for their presentation, and my husband was able to teach them how to cut PVC, but they had to make what they were using for their performance.
“If it’s too dangerous for them to do it, they need to find a different way to do it.”
Beyond set design, the adults also help them learn other skills to make sure they prepare for competition. She said, “We taught them to sew, and they did their own face painting and makeup.”
The eight minutes that they have to perform includes setting up for their performance and doing their play. Then, there is also a spontaneous section during the competition. Benninger said, “They’re put in a room without coaches, and they’re asked a question that they are given a couple minutes to solve. They get points for how creative or humorous their answers are.”
After it was all said and done, Southwest’s team took first and advanced to the World Finals, which is a huge accomplishment for any team, but doubly-so considering this is the first year for their team.
Now, the team has to raise funds to get the kids to the World Finals. Benninger said, “It’s hard and expensive, and PTO has limited funds and limited volunteers. PTO is very much at risk of ending after this year. We only have five volunteers, and that would end all of these programs, including the STEAM fair.
“We’re just trying to bring that extra opportunity for the gifted to offer to the students.”
Students had an unbelievable amount of dedication to get this far in the competition. Each week, they spend four hours after school working on their project.
The Southwest PTO is seeking donations to raise the $10,000 that it is going to take to get the kids to the competition. Benninger said, “It’s $600 per person just for lodging and food, and that doesn’t include transportation. We have fundraisers planned, but it’s going to take a lot of support to get these kids there.”
She continued, “It’s an amazing experience. That experience from elementary school is, to this day, one of the best experiences of my life.
“We’re desperately trying to raise the money to get the kids there.”
The group also has a GoFundMe page set up for people to make individual donations to their team. The site can be reached online at https://www.gofundme.com/omworldfinals. If you would prefer to make a donation directly, Benninger can be contacted at (417) 846-7308.