Page 12 - FIS World JUne 2024

Masters of Improv
FIS Middle School teams excel in cross-curricular problem solving
In costume during dress rehearsal for a competition in Berlin
The team huddles together in the waiting area, jittery with anticipation. They are minutes away from their Spontaneous Challenge. A third of their overall score today depends on how well they solve this unknown task. Will they have to build a structure out of household materials? Maybe they’ll have to improvise a short performance. Or, perhaps they’ll have to take turns sharing creative responses to a verbal prompt.
Just this morning they were practicing for this task as I asked them to name pairs of things that don’t mix well. “Homework and procrastination,” “liquids and my laptop,”“a stone and two birds,” “hair and lip gloss” were a few of their ideas. Their nerves are high, but they are excited to see what awaits them in the next room. “We’ve got this, guys! Just remember: teamwork!” As the judge escorts them into their challenge room, they feel ready: this is what they’ve trained for.
Odyssey of the Mind (OM) is a worldwide program that helps students from first grade to university develop their creativity, problem solving, and collaboration skills. The OM season begins in the early fall, with teams of up to seven students deciding which Central Challenge they want to spend the year working on. There are six categories to choose from every year, each with a unique theme and focus. This season, our two FIS Middle School teams selected the Vehicle and Performance challenges.
The Vehicle challenge this year was called Drive-In Movie. Students were tasked with building a vehicle with an internal power source that was capable of maneuvering within a drive-in movie setting. It needed to be able to collect a movie ticket from a ticket booth, pick up food from a concession stand, and reverse into a parking space. The final result needed to be an 8-minute performance with dialogue, costumes, props and action. And perhaps most importantly, the fundamental rule of Odyssey of the Mind: absolutely every aspect of their performance had to be created by the students.
Angel, a Grade 8 student who has spent the last two years participating, loves this aspect of OM. “Your team has to think of everything,” he says. “No one else is allowed to help (even the coach). It really strengthens your teamwork skills, and also helps your creative thinking and problem solving because you have to come up with the most elegant solution to the large and small problems in your challenge.” Adamé, a Grade 7 student who has also been participating for two years, agrees:“There are specific guidelines, which make the challenge hard, but it’s still your whole thing,” she explains. “It is all the ideas of your team that flow into that project, and it is really nice to know that you created that, and you can be really proud knowing that you and your team made that without any outside influence.”
10 FIS World May 2024