Students from East Kentwood High School presented a short play that put a very modern twist on the classical concept of the Trojan horse. In their solution, their primary character escaped being stuck inside her computer by hitching a ride on a ‘Trojan horse’ virus to break through the computer’s firewall. Their creativity won first place honors in the Classics category.
Multiple Districts – After a multi-year hiatus from in-person competition among some of the most creative young minds in Michigan schools, Odyssey of the Mind teams from 29 Kent County public schools and many more from the region met for a day of creative problem solving in Middleville, Michigan.
Ten teams from Thornapple Kellogg, Kentwood, Forest Hills, and Rockford public schools earned first place honors at the state final, earning them spots at the Odyssey of the Mind world finals in May. Many more local teams advanced to the global competition by earning second and third place in their competition categories.
Students in Odyssey of the Mind work collaboratively – strictly independent of parents and coaches – to solve problems from categories they choose at the beginning of each school year. They present their solutions in some categories as skits or demonstrations designed and written entirely by them.
Other categories require teams to construct things from wood, or to create a series of contraptions and devices that perform tasks without human interaction. During competitions, scores also rely partly on a “spontaneous” problem-solving task in which a team must solve an additional problem in fewer than 10 minutes.
Here are just a few snapshots from the day-long competition on March 18.
The Odyssey of the Mind team from East Kentwood High School used the concept of a computer virus, aka a ‘Trojan horse virus,’ to break down the computer’s firewall that was keeping the skit’s hero trapped inside. In the skit, the firewall was hacked by a virus from a dating website for single moms with special help from Aphrodite. Their creativity won them first place honors in the Classics category. The Odyssey of the Mind team from East Kentwood High School earned a spot at the World Finals in May with their creative presentation. Pictured from left are Julia Woodard, Ko Montalvo, Avery Ringstrom, Brooklyn Bouche, Alexia Dault, Coach Avery Ringstrom and Abrielle Woodard. The OM team from the Spanish Immesrion program at Roguewood Elementary in Rockford presented a Trojan Horse-themed musical in which pirates visit a volcanic island to check out the isle’s large statue. Their treasure chest provides a vehicle for Athena, a character who has been stuck on the island, to escape. Roguewood Elementary’s OM team wrote a traditional Greek chorus, sung by their island’s ‘volcanoes,’ for their presentation. All Odyssey of the Mind activities are coordinated by parents and other family members, like these from Roguewood Elementary in Rockford. Most teams are self-funded and receive no sponsorship from their schools. Adults pictured from left are Joe Gandia, Brad Leiter, Rose Gandia, Carrie Leiter, Jarrod Folsom, Justyna Schab and Dan Schab. Rockford students from left, Claire Folsom, Iris Leiter, Noah Gandia, Hannah Fowler, Eddie Stelzer, Eli Oldenberg, Olivia Schab and coach Jarod Folsom won top honors for their creative problem-solving and presentation skills for their Trojan horse-themed play. Students from one of Thornapple Kellogg’s elementary school teams race to the front of the gym to receive second-place medals in The Walls of Troy category Students from TK’s elementary schools created their award-winning performance with elements required by the rules of competition. In the Walls of Troy-themed Classics category, plays had to include a character from ‘The Iliad,’ an original Greek chorus, an unusual statue, and of course, a Trojan horse (courtesy). Students from Northern High School in Forest Hills won first place for their comedic performance in the The Most Dramatic Problem Ever!!! category of the state Odyssey of the Mind competition. East Rockford Middle School students Violet Erickson, left, and Mateo Martinez worked with their OM team to create a comedic play based on a character that over-dramatizes everything. Students from East Rockford Middle School, from left, Isaac Breese, Mateo Martinez, Violet Erickson, Abby Andre, Abby Matusiak, Claire Austin and Evan Breese, won first-place honors for their skit in The Most Dramatic Problem Ever!!! performance category. Students from Forest Hills’ Eastern High School gave out small gifts to students from other schools during the competition’s trading time. Seniors from Kent County and Thornapple Kellogg schools won four out of the five scholarships given to long-time OMers from the region. From left, Isabel Borcher from Rockford High School, Lauren Brace from Forest Hills Central High School, Tara Brace from Forest Hills Central High School and Liberty Hess from Thornapple Kellogg High School. Also pictured is Cameron Thomas-Thorley from Johannesburg-Lewiston High School in northern Michigan. An Odyssey of the Mind team from Thornapple Kellogg High School used puppets in their performance as part of the Walls of Troy-themed Classics category. Students from Central Woodlands 5-6 School in Forest Hills won first prize for their achievements in the Because iCan technical category.
Allison Poosawtsee is a reporter covering Rockford Public Schools and Kent City Community Schools. She has spent 15+ years working and writing in the education context, first for her alma mater, Calvin University, and then for various businesses and nonprofit organizations in the Grand Rapids area. As a student journalist, she served as editor-in-chief of Calvin’s student newspaper where she garnered several Michigan Collegiate Press Association awards for her work. Allison is a proud parent of two Grand Rapids Public Schools scholars and a passionate advocate for the value of public education.
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