Hampton Students Stand Out at Odyssey of the Mind Competition

Hampton Students Stand Out at Odyssey of the Mind Competition, Gear up April State Tournament

The Hampton Township Odyssey of the Mind program participated in the Western Pennsylvania Regional Odyssey of the Mind tournament on March 6, 2021, held virtually. Students from grades K-8 from Central, Poff, Wyland, Hampton Online Academy, Hampton Middle School, Commonwealth Charter Academy, Western Pennsylvania Montessori School, and Homeschool participated on this year’s teams.

There were two teams from grades K-2 who participated in the non-competitive primary division, “Animals are People Too”. In this problem, teams created and presented a humorous performance about a magical pair of eyeglasses that when looked through, made people look like animals. Teams designed a costume that transformed a character’s appearance from human to an animal, and another costume that transformed an animal to a different animal. These students were: Lincoln Boslau, Kensley Cottrell, Charles Graham, Elizabeth Graham, Jane Graham, Charlotte Hamberg, Nikitha Kota, Kieran Li, Abigail Melnick, Jonathan Radomski, Anthony Schott, and Claire Veldkamp.

A team with students in grades 3-4 from Central, Poff, Wyland and Homeschool competed in the technical problem category, “Virtual Odyssey,” where teams created a Virtual Reality World. As part of the world, they designed and built various technical effects, which included changing something that is two-dimensional into three-dimensional. This team earned 3rd place in the virtual Division I category. These students were: Anastasia Hoy, Kylie John, Gwen Okerberg, Gabe Sand, Adelaide Smith, Anthony Sovek, and Abram Veldkamp.

A team with students in grades 3-5 from Wyland Elementary and Charter Commonwealth Academy competed in the classics problem category, “OMER and the Beanstalk” where teams had to bring classic children’s stories to life and create a mystical storybook land at the end of the beanstalk that teaches a character an important life lesson. Teams used ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda (a generous Odyssey sponsor) to create works of art relating to the stories in the team’s storybook land. This team earned 2nd place in the Virtual Division I category. These students were: Ella Gannon Lavigne, Luke Grejda, Eunsol Ko, Jack Leyenaar, Alyssa Petrovich, Nicholas Radomski, and Brecken Turcsanyi.

A team with students in grades 3-5 from Central and Poff Elementary Schools competed in the performance problem category, “Superhero Socks: A Cliffhanger Beginning”. Teams had to create a story that begins with a cliffhanger ending. Their team-created superhero is in peril and needs help to escape through the use of a pair of Super Socks that give the hero a special power that they use to fend off the adversary who caused the cliffhanger situation. The team had to create and incorporate an extreme weather setting, a humorous character, and a creative sound effect that occurs whenever the character activates the Super Socks in the performance. This team earned 2nd place in the virtual Division I category. These students were: Dorothy Bennett, Adrien Duarte, Lily Ippolito, Hailey Jacobs, Anna Kavic, and Benjamin Lin.

A team with students in grades 3-5 from Wyland Elementary competed in the balsa problem category, “It’s A Trap!” Teams designed and built a structure made of only balsa wood and glue to holds as much weight as possible after it was used to trap a moving object. In addition to the balsa structure, the team’s performance had to include a character that obliviously avoids several team-made traps. This team’s balsa structure held 181 pounds before being crushed and they earned 1st place in the in-person Division I category. These students were: Carson Krysinski, Emily Krysinski, Jack Miller, Aiden Rauso, and Saffron Rose.

A team with students in grades 6-8 from Hampton Middle School and Commonwealth Charter Academy also competed in the balsa problem category, “It’s A Trap!” Their balsa structure held 723 pounds, a Hampton record, and the team earned 1st place in the in-person Division II category. These students were: Claire Hukriede, Braden Krysinski, Joseph Petrovich, Isabel Romul, Ashley Rothenberg, Teagan Turcsanyi, and Giovanni Valenti.

Four Hampton teams will be competing virtually in the PA state tournament on April 10, 2021 with a chance to advance to the World Finals. For more information about the Hampton Township Odyssey of the Mind program, please visit the website at https://htsdodysseyofthemind.weebly.com/ or contact HTSDOotM@gmail.com.