Corbin Odyssey of the Mind team wins state championship, will go to World Finals

A team of seven fourth and fifth grader from Corbin Schools took top honors at Kentucky’s Odyssey of the Mind state competition this past weekend, and now qualify to compete at the World Finals in May.

The Corbin Elementary School team that won is one of four from the school district. No team from Corbin placed worse than fourth in any division.

"It’s been a whirlwind. I can’t believe it!" said April Laun, the school nurse at Corbin Elementary School and coach of the team that captured the title. "These kids are just amazing. They are little go-getters. They are all very smart."

The competition is broken down by divisions, based on age and grade level. It is further divided by types of problems the teams are solving.

Corbin Elementary’s team won in Div. 1, Full Circle – a problem where the team had to present an eight-minute, humorous performance in which an object changes at least three times, then finally goes back to its original form. The problem is designed to spark creativity, spontaneity, and test the skills of team members to adapt quickly.

Laun said her team knew the problem in advance, but had less time to work on the performance than usual because of all the snow days the school district had this year.

Members of the winning team are: Fourth graders Matthew Laun, Cameron Wyatt, Daniel Moye and Blakely Carr; fifth graders Calista Dean, Taylor Brock and Ashlyn Troutman.

The team took first place in Kentucky Eastern Regional competition earlier this month.

A team from Corbin Intermediate School won fourth place in one division, and two Corbin Middle School teams took third and fourth place respectively.

Typically, Odyssey of the Mind competitions center around two parts: First teams must figure out either verbal or hands-on long-term problems; often-clever conundrums that force indirect thinking or application of skills learned in the classroom. Only five of the seven team members can participate in this part, and coaches are not allowed anywhere near the competition. The second part involved a dramatic production the team has worked on for months -building set pieces and learning roles in anticipation of the event.

Corbin schools began participating in Odyssey of the Mind in 2008. That first year, a team from Corbin Intermediate School took second place in state competition and qualified for World Finals where they placed 20th.

Jimmy Cornn, a band instructor at Corbin High School who is an Odyssey of the Mind judge and who also advises Corbin’s teams, said interest in the program has grown in Corbin.

"We had 30 kids audition for it this year and we only took 14. We kind of got the cream of the crop. I told April she had one of the best groups of kids that’s ever been here," Cornn said. "I think kids are starting to hear about it and understand what it is. The interest in it is definitely rising."

Corbin Elementary School’s winning team this year will take part in the World Finals, to be held May 27-31 at the University of Maryland. About 650 teams from 35 states and 10 foreign countries will take part.

"It’s almost like a mini Olympic Games," Cornn said, noting that the World Finals includes an opening ceremony. "Just the culture these kids are going to get from this makes it worth it."

The Odyssey of the Mind has its roots in the Industrial Design classes of Dr. Sam Micklus, Odyssey of the Mind founder. As a professor at Rowan University in New Jersey (formerly Glassboro State College) Dr. Micklus challenged his students to create vehicles without wheels, mechanical pie throwers and flotation devices that would take them across a course on a lake. He evaluated them not on the success of their solutions, but on the ingenuity applied and the risk involved in trying something new and different. Students had fun. Word spread and the students’ activities attracted attention from the local media. Soon, people on the outside wanted a part of the action. This public interest led to the development of a creative problem-solving competition for school children.

Laun said the success of her team has taken everyone by surprise. She estimates it will cost about $4,500 just for lodging and food to attend the event. She said the team is appealing to the community to help.

"Anyone that wants to donate can contact the school and we will take any donation they want to give us," she said. "We hadn’t really planned for this … We would like to be able to do some educational things for the kids when we go."

Anyone interested in donating can call the school at 528-4367.