ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300101
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Class Notes
SOURCE: HALE SHEIKERZ
Saturday was an exciting day for many Virginia schoolchildren. More than 1,100 kindergarten to 12th-graders participated at the state Odyssey of the Mind competition at Radford University. Thirteen teams from the New River Valley competed, including a team from Christiansburg Middle School.
The Amusin' Cruisin' team from Christiansburg came away with a third-place finish in Division 2 of the Amusin' Cruisin' problem, the highest finish by a valley team.
A team from Radford High School finished fourth in Division 3 of the Crunch problem. To participate at the state level, teams must have placed first at the regional competition.
Led by coaches Linda Morales-Burton and Ken Skidmore, the Amusin' Cruisin' Christiansburg team had worked on its project since October. Team members include Jessica Gosling-Goldsmith, Paul King, David Mattox, Angela Powell, Andrew Skidmore, Lee Skidmore and Cory Thompson.
The team's eight-minute presentation was a trip through San Francisco Land, where their vehicle-like trolley stopped at Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf. The vehicle was running on two batteries, two motors and gear boxes. The tasks the team performed included the sound of sea gulls triggered by a model boat pulling into a pier, the trolley running over electrical contacts and a street juggler juggling fish from a fish stand. The journey ended with a simulated earthquake shaking the Golden Gate Bridge and spinning the trolley around and around.
Denise Boor, the gifted-and-talented coordinator at Dalton Intermediate and Radford High, said the Radford High team's structure in the Crunch problem supported 339 pounds. The winning team's structure supported 709 pounds. While the amount of weight is important, the structure's other tests also are pertinent. She said she noticed that a piece of balsa wood was knocked off the Radford structure just before it underwent a billiard-ball impact test.
"It requires lots of thinking and strategy and lots of variables to consider," Boor said. She said the Crunch problem is popular because students actually build something and test it. The fourth-place Radford High team included Aamir Wyne, Ainslie Heilich, Laura Maybe, Mandy Harless, Carol Castleberry, Laura Fisher and Ming Qi.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international competition where student teams compete at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Teams can select any of five problems to solve.
Point distribution is 200 for long term, 100 spontaneous and 50 for style (narration, costumes and design). Winners were determined from the combined long-term, spontaneous and style percentage scores in each problem, within each division.
Christiansburg's team earned the most points in the long-term portion of the competition.
Teams are limited to seven members. However, only five members can present and only five can participate in the spontaneous competition.
Following is a list of this year's problems, along with their official description. New River Valley teams in each problem division are named after the description.
Amusin' Cruisin' - teams were required to build a vehicle that would take the driver though an original "amusement park" while performing team-created tasks. Teams: Elliston-Lafayette Elementary, Christiansburg Middle, Radford High (team A).
Omvention - teams designed a new product or redesigned an existing one that would assist a person with a physical disability to perform, or help perform, a task. Teams: Giles High (two teams).
Classics ... Great Impressions - teams selected a drawing or painting by a French Impressionist and wrote an original poem relating to it. The team also had to select a poem by a famous poet, create an original drawing or painting that would relate to the poem. The team then had to present the poem and work of art. Teams: Kipps Elementary, Blacksburg Middle, Blacksburg High.
Crunch - teams had to design and build a structure of balsa wood and glue. The structure was tested by balancing and supporting as much weight as possible while undergoing a series of billiard-ball impacts. Teams: Gilbert Linkous Elementary, Dalton Intermediate, Radford High (team B).
Tall Tales of John Jivery - the team had to create and present a humorous performance about an original tall tale. The team had to create a hero or heroine who performed an incredible feat, a unique explanation of how something began or came to be, and end with a surprise for the audience. Teams: Prices Fork Elementary, Christiansburg Middle (team B).
Odyssey of the Mind has been around more than 20 years and is administered by the Odyssey of the Mind Association Inc., in Glassboro, N.J., where it was started by a professor. To participate in the competition, schools must be members of the association.
Susan Nunemaker, Odyssey director for the state, said that a decade ago, there were fewer than 150 members in the state and teams didn't compete at a regional level, but went directly to the state competition.
Today there are more than 600 members in Virginia and teams must first compete at their regional competition. First-place winners from the regional competition advance to the state level.
Nunemaker said Virginia is in the top 10 in the number of memberships, beating out larger states. She also said the state is competitive, typically having teams finish in the top three at the World competition. In fact, she said four teams at the state competition placed in last year's World competition, including two that finished first. None of them placed at the state this year.
"Just because you do well one year, doesn't mean you'll do well the next year," Nunemaker said.
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