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player ready...Because Bill Mortimer knows how to build a sturdy 8-inch tower out of balsa wood and glue, he and six girls from Hinsdale Middle School will go to Disney World in May for the world finals of the Odyssey of the Mind competition.
In the eclectic problem-solving contest, now in 49 states and 30 countries, students are challenged to solve tasks requiring creativity, imagination and teamwork. In this year’s state competition Saturday at Fenton High School in Bensenville, 115 teams from 72 elementary, middle and high schools battled for the 13 first-place slots in five events to qualify for the world tournament May 26 in Orlando.
The challenges require youngsters to design and build structures and vehicles, or create and perform skits with specific themes. Points are given not only for quality but for presentation style.
In the division for youngsters up to age 15, some teams had to build a camouflaged structure out of balsa wood and glue, and weights are piled on it until it crumbles. Hinsdale Middle School won first place, even though the builder of its tower, Bill Mortimer, is a 5th grader at Monroe Elementary School in Hinsdale.
The other team members, all from Hinsdale Middle School, are 6th graders Julie Arvis, Larissa Jurisch and Hadley Wagner, and 8th graders Christine Lassandrello, Allie McGonagle and Jackie Meisser. Several girls acted out a skit, while others piled weights on the tower until it finally snapped after holding 800 pounds.
“Every one has changed,” said their coach, Bill Mortimer, father of the tower builder. “They are more outgoing, self-confident, respectful and tolerant.”
Here are state winners in division 1, for kids up to age 12; division 2, up to age 15; and division 3, for older high school students:
Camouflaged Creation (building a balsa wood structure): division 1–Monroe Elementary School, Hinsdale; division 2–Hinsdale Middle School; division 3–Richwoods High School, Peoria.
Pageant Wagon (building a tow vehicle and pageant wagon to include a skit: division 1–Georgetown-Ridge Farm Elementary School, Georgetown; division 2–Edison Junior High School, Pekin; division 3–Belleville West High School.
Marvelous Mentor (present a television commercial about a nutritional product): division 1–Winkelman Elementary School, Glenview; division 2–Bentley Elementary School, New Lenox; division 3–Belleville East High School.
Create and Animate (present a skit where an inanimate object comes to life): division 1–Anderson Elementary School, St. Charles; Division 2–Haines Middle School, St. Charles
Morph Magic (perform a sketch about a character changing from human to animal): division 2–Edison Junior High School, Pekin; division 3–Salem High School.