York Town News
State champs and super scores: a stellar "Odyssey" for York teams
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Fourth-graders Emma Rohrer, as an Easter Bunny who raps, and Marissa Ford, as Mother Nature, perform scenes in Coastal Ridge Elementary School's Division I "I'm Only Thinking of You" production for Odyssey of the Mind. The team received a trophy and medals for earning third place out of the seven teams that competed from around the state.
Photos by Michele Freitag
YORK VILLAGE - Three out of the six local teams that traveled to the Maine Odyssey of the Mind Competition this past weekend came home with trophies, and two have earned the rank of state champions.
It was an event that was literally months in the making, with many of the teams beginning their work together as far back as late September or early October.
And those months saw teams change, problems struggled with and solved - and an impressive amount of growth and perseverance, according to the many parents who volunteered to coach the six teams.
A total of four teams from Coastal Ridge Elementary School as well as one team each from York Middle School and Village Elementary School attended the state finals at Colby College in Waterville on Saturday.
Three teams came home with trophies for their efforts, and two of those teams have been earned the rank of Maine State Champions and the chance to represent Coastal Ridge Elementary School at the World Finals in Michigan in May.
Coastal Ridge Division I teams for "Out of the Box Balsa" and "The Large and Small of It" topped off their divisions to earn the statewide honor, while the Division I team for "I'm Only Thinking of You" won a third-place trophy.
Meanwhile, the Coastal Ridge Division I and York Middle School Division II "Around the World in Eight Minutes" teams both had strong showings in a problem category that officials said broke Odyssey of the Mind (OM) records for participation.
The Village Elementary School "Time Capsule" team was in a non-competing division.
For Horizons teacher Michele Freitag, who coordinated this year's OM participation, the focus was not on the results, but on the months of effort and the growth of the teams.
That sentiment was echoed by many of the coaches and the participants.
"It was really, really fun, especially when we did the skit in front of the judges," said Andrew Segalla of "The Large and Small of It" team.
Earning a first-place spot among the three competitors in the Division I "The Large and Small of It" category, which required creating a book and then bringing that story to life with full-scale sets, was a thrill for Segalla and his fellow team members.
"I liked working with my team, the whole thing made me really happy. I am so excited for Worlds," said Caileb Stanley.
Jesse Wang agreed.
"I would say it was good. I would say it was really good. I was really worried, I wanted to get first place," he said, adding, "It was a delight to see one of my friends, Michael Freitag, as a style judge."
Teams are judged on their long-term problem, on the "style" with which they solve the problem and on a spontaneous team problem that is given to them the day of the competition.
"Odyssey of the Mind is an exhilarating experience, especially going to Worlds," said Connor Arsenault. "You meet people from China, Japan, maybe Singapore. You talk to them and maybe watch their problem."
Sadie Arsenault said she enjoyed the artwork and creativity involved in solving the problem.
"I think it is really cool because you get to express yourself in different ways," she said.
Payton Morse said she thought OM was a fun and interesting experience and that the team did a good job.
"I think it was a lot of fun," said Rachel Peters. "It was worth it - all our work in the skit and spontaneous was worth it."
Jake DellaPasqua, of the Division I "Around the World in Eight Minutes," agreed, adding, "I think we learned to be better at teamwork."
His teammates Katie Mahoney and Ben MacLean thought so, too.
"It was a very good experience for me to work with other kids and to I think it was fun to think outside of the box," Katie said.
Although their team did not place in the top three, they earned a very high score in their competitive category, and placed eighth in a field of 17 teams.
"Even though it was my third time, I was always on primary teams before. It was quite exciting to be judged on our problem, even though we didn't win," Ben said.
Fourth-graders Emma Rohrer and Marissa Ford, whose team took third place in "I'm Only Thinking of You" were all smiles after the event.
"I think we worked extremely well as a team," Marissa said. "The experience is great. I think it helps people become more spontaneous and creative, and if you keep doing it, you can even win a scholarship. Imagine, winning a scholarship for being creative!"
Emma said this was her first year on a team, but she would like to do it again.
"I really liked the problem we were doing," she said. "It was a great experience."
Tyler Thornton worked hard on designing his team's "Out of the Box Balsa" structure but was unable to attend the state competition.
His team members pulled through, however, taking the top spot in a field of eight competitors.
Tyler said he is very excited to go to Michigan after three years in a row of being a team to win the first-place spot in a balsa structure category.
His coaches agreed.
"As first-time coaches, Greg Knoettner and I were bit insecure and overwhelmed by the process of being OM coaches," said Jan Hallas. "We had help from the experienced coaches and parents. But, as it should be, the final result was the coming together of our seven team members who competed and performed beautifully together and brought home first place."
In addition to Tyler, the team also includes Hanna Knoettner, Shawn Heyland, Alexander Hallas, Emma Patten, Lars Lauersen and Colby Pidgeon, who are hoping to compete at the World Finals In East Lansing, Mich., in May.
"With some help from our supportive community, we hope to get there," Hallas said, as the process of fundraising now begins for the two first-place teams.
Knoettner explained the problem involved a performance and a structure made of balsa wood that had to support as much weight as possible.
"Our structure supported 100 pounds, which was 35 pounds more than the next best structure," he said. "Our performance went off pretty much flawlessly. We peaked at the right time!"
Lynn DellaPasqua, co-coach of the Division I "Around the World in Eight Minutes" team, said she was very proud of the work of the five members of her team.
"It was a great experience working with our team, as well as seeing the fruits of the hard labor of all of the teams and volunteers at the tournament," she said. "Our team really showed respect for each other's ideas, and I am so proud of all that they accomplished - and they seemed to have fun too! I think OM is a great experience for all involved."
Nine-year-old Jake DellaPasqua of Coastal Ridge Elementary School meditates as the Sports Star during Saturday's Maine Odyssey of the Mind Competition, held at Colby College in Waterville.
Photo by Michele Freitag |
Members of Village Elementary School's Primary Division team traveled through time in a non-competitive exhibition created just for the Maine Odyssey of the Mind Tournament.
Courtesy photo |
Members of Coastal Ridge's Division 1 "Out of the Box Balsa" team scored at the top of their field of eight competing teams, bringing home the title of State Champions.
Photo by Michele Freitag
York Middle School Division II "Around the World in Eight Minutes" had a strong showing in what has been called the most competitive problem category in Odyssey of the Mind history. Pictured here packing up after the competition are, from left, Cassie Burns, Thomas Rasche, Abby Schriefer, Eli Loeffler, Noah Brossman and Stanley Szeniawski.
Photo by Steve Rasche
Coastal Ridge Elementary School's "Large and Small of It" team took first place for Division 1, earning the State Champion designation over Hollis Elementary School and the Willard School in Sanford.
Photo by Michele Freitag
Katherine Bullock, Jake DellaPasqua, Katie Mahoney, Ben MacLean and Derek Murphy of Coastal Ridge Elementary School's Division I "Around the World in Eight Minutes" team are all smiles as they wait to take part in the spontaneous problem portion of the statewide competition. The team took eighth place out of 17 teams for an Odyssey of the Mind problem that officials said had more competitors than any before.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
