Page 13 - FIS World JUne 2024

The second FIS team selected Rockin’ World Detour as their Central Challenge this year. They were required to create an 8-minute performance about a rock band on tour that ends up on an unexpected detour. The band had to use music to get themselves back on track. Like the other team, they created their own script, costumes, sets and props, in addition to the requirements set forth by OM. Some of those requirements included: inventing a new instrument that the band plays, creating two types of band merchandise, using makeup and hairstyles to enhance the performance, and perhaps most impressive of all, writing and performing an original song.
The challenges have pages of criteria and constraints, but are open-ended enough that the students get to make it completely their own. The Drive-In Movie team set their performance underwater, with an evil, ocean-polluting villain from their movie coming to life as he bursts through the screen. The other team’s rock band was a group of red blood cells, traveling through the bloodstream and playing music to keep the body healthy. Adithya, a Grade 6 student who is new to OM this year, said “it’s like the ultimate mental workout. You have to use all your creative solutions and communicate with your team to solve these problems. It’s very fun.”His teammate Stavan painted a lot of their team’s props and costumes. “I’ve discovered that I can do art with OM,” he said. “I never really did anything artistic before, and I’m proud of my work.”
In addition to working on their Central Challenge, students also spend time at practices preparing for a completely different type of task. At competitions, they are given a Spontaneous Challenge to solve, and unlike their Central Challenge, they walk into this one with no idea of what they may be asked to do. They might be prompted to do something hands-on, such as building a tower using household materials like straws, paperclips, notecards, and pipe cleaners. Verbal tasks are the second possibility, where the team members alternate giving their most creative answers to a prompt. The third option is a mixture of verbal and hands-on. In these cases, they might be given a box of random objects, and have to describe creative uses for each of the objects. With so many types of challenges and endless possibilities for the prompts, the Spontaneous Challenge truly tests a team’s ability to think on their feet.
Between the Central and Spontaneous challenges, students are developing skills in numerous areas. “I like OM because of all the things it teaches you,” says Jihao, a Grade 8 student on the Vehicle team. “It has helped me improve my confidence in performing in front of other people.” His teammate Angel added: “I learned a lot of skills that I can now apply to other aspects of my life,
such as 3D printing, design, creative thinking, problem solving and teamwork. It helps you with organization and time management, too, because the scope of the project is large, so you have to figure out which areas of your solution need to be prioritized. You also have a deadline, the competition, and everything has to be done by then.”
This year, that competition took place at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. Our teams competed against groups from across Germany, The Netherlands, and even France. Their months of hard work were celebrated with first place wins for both groups, but more importantly, they learned a lot from the experience of seeing all of the other groups present their solutions. Inhye, in Grade 7, said the competition was a highlight of the season for her. “I like OM because we get opportunities to go to these kinds of competitions where we get to share our ideas. We can see others’ performances, which helps us know how to improve our presentation skills in front of other people.” Adamé feels that there’s a lot of value in seeing the ways that other teams chose to tackle the same criteria, but in their own unique style. “We saw four different presentations, with four totally different ways of making a vehicle drive. That was so cool.”
Odyssey of the Mind is the true embodiment of cross-curricular problem solving. The nature of the program leads students to use science, technology, engineering, arts and math to solve their challenges, all through a student-driven approach. When asked what he will take away from his experience in OM this year, Grade 8 student Vaughn put it perfectly: “I learned that I really do have a creative mind in my body.”
Katie Smith
FIS Middle School Science Teacher and Odyssey of the Mind Coach
Carefully packing props to send to the United States for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, which FIS attended in May
May 2024 FIS World 11