Just last Saturday, Rocky Mount Academy had four lower and middle school teams represent our school at the Coastal Regional Tournament of Odyssey of the Mind. Odyssey of the Mind is an organization that encourages students, in kindergarten through college, to explore the limitless possibilities of their imaginations and the usefulness of creativity through various problem solving exercises. The competition is composed of a Spontaneous Competition, as well as the Main Competition that teams spend their time preparing for all year long. In the Spontaneous Competition, competitors are asked to solve a problem that they have no knowledge of prior to the competition. In the Main Competition, students display their abilities to solve a specific issue of their choosing. Rocky Mount Academy’s Odyssey of the Mind teams are exclusively led by a group of dedicated parent coaches, as well as the parents of the competitors in general, who have been helping the students prepare for the competition for about six months. This year, RMA had teams representing grades four through seven and two of teams advanced to the State Competition at Wingate College.

The fourth grade team, coached by Mrs. Desai, was composed of Juhee Desai, Gabby Ams, Cooper Epps, Vann Davis, Greyson Thorne, and Owen Lord. This team competed in the event titled “Something Fishy”. In this event, teams had to design and operate a technical solution that simulated multiple styles of fishing. A fisher character had to work from a designation area to “catch” three different objects that were outside that area. The catch had to be on the move and had to include something expected, something unexpected, and a new discovery. The performance also had to include a change of weather and a humorous character that portrayed a potential catch and avoided being caught by a fisher. The team worked tirelessly to present a successful solution to their chosen dilemma and their efforts were rewarded with a first place trophy.

The fifth grade team, coached by Mrs. Chaudhry, was composed of students Mary Kimbrell Livermon, Franklin Davis, Mari Robbin Tharin, Kate Hudgins, Khadijah Siddiqi, Kent Brantley, and Carley Outlaw. In “Fins, Furs, Feathers & Friends”, this team was required to create and present a humorous performance depicting problem solving from the perspective of three different animals. The animals helped a stranger, helped each other, and solved a problem that threatened the survival of all animals. During the performance, they had to have the animals sing and dance. They also had to show curiosity, sympathy, frustration, and joy in their performance. When asked about the OM experience, Mrs. Tharin, parent of Mary Robbin, said “I have worked closely with Rabia (our head coach) this year, and I think that the toughest part of being an OM coach, aside from the many hours that it takes, is guiding the team but not giving them any ideas. Rabia did a great job of helping our team to interpret the detailed problem that they were given, yet she isn’t allowed to physically help them or make suggestions about their performance.  That’s tough for a mom and a coach! The best part of our experience on OM, and I think everyone would agree, has been watching the team bond with each other.  The children are a fairly diverse group, but they have a bond as tight as can be now.  As a parent, it is very rewarding to see them collaborate, work out their differences, take leadership roles, sit back and let others take leadership roles, and truly respect and enjoy each other.
We were very proud of them this year.” This year, the team placed fifth overall, and first in spontaneous.

The sixth grade team, coached by Mrs. Evans, included Cooper Ams, Mary Hanna Bryant, Aamina Chaudhry, Connor Evans, Shelton Honey, Chandler Lamm, and Walker Rose. The team selected the event titled “No Cycle Recycle” where teams had to build, ride on, and drive a no-cycle, recycling vehicle. It needed to pick up discarded items, adapt them to the vehicle in some way, and then deliver them to places to be re-used. The vehicle had to travel without using pedaling for propulsion. In addition, the driver had to have an assistant worker riding on the vehicle that helped process trash items being repurposed. This group was also required to make an unplanned stop along the way to perform random acts of kindness. Mrs. Evans said that, as her second year coaching, “For me the experience is rewarding because as a coach you are there to guide and supervise, but not solve the problem. It is up to the team to solve problems in a creative and efficient way. The students make everything themselves, usually from recycled items. For all of our teams, this competition was the culmination of six months of hard work and practice. I am very proud of my sixth grade team, and all of the teams who represent our school. We competed against much larger schools who have Odyssey of the Mind built into their curriculums, and have trained coaches as well as additional budgets.”

The seventh grade team was coached by Mrs. Petruzzuiello and Mrs. Cox and included Porter Petruzzuiello, Mary Edith Cox, Abigail Adcock, Clara Lord, and Zoey Outlaw. This team’s challenge was titled “Fins, Furs, Feathers, and Friends”. In this event, the team’s prompt was to create and present a humorous performance depicting problem solving form the perspective of three different animals. The animals helped a stranger, helped each other, and solved a problem that threatened the survival of all animals. During the performance, they performed as various animals while singing and dancing. They also had to show curiosity, sympathy, frustration, and joy in their performance. Congratulations to our 7^th grade team in winning 1^st place. They will travel to Wingate College the first of April to compete in the State Tournament.