(above) Elementary students from Scotch Plains-Fanwood formed a team that competed in Devision I of the Odyssey of the Mind competition.
SPF High School takes First Place at the NJ Odyssey of the Mind 2019 Gateway Regional Tournament
Imagine…dozens of students hustling to carry boxes decorated as buildings and other inventive structures…trees and scenery being carted in wagons… and sheets painted in backdrops ranging from farms, to forests to the North Pole… This is the buzzing scene at the 2019 Gateway Regional Tournament of the NJ Odyssey of the Mind (OoTM) held on Saturday March 9, 2019 at John Adams Middle School in Edison, NJ.
(above) A team of four SPF High School Students took home First Place at the Odyssey of the Mind competition.
Four SPF High School students represented the school in the competition within the “Hide in Plain Sight” category for Division III in their inaugural year of entry. At Odyssey of the Mind tournaments, there are two phases of competition- the first is the Long-Term Problem phase and the second is the Spontaneous Problem phase.
SPF High School students, Gabby Khan, Zander Webb, Alanah Scott and Grace Ahlin spent several months working to solve the Hide in Plain Sight Long Term problem. The goal was to craft and construct a team-made mechanical creature that hides in plain sight. The creature was required to have changed its appearance three times to avoid being detected by a Searcher character trying to find it. Our students proved to be fierce competitors in both phases of competition and ended up dominating the Hide in Plain Sight category. When asked how they felt about their first time at the tournament, Gabby Khan replied, “It can be a grueling experience at times, but when you walk out of it, whether you won or lost, you know it was worth it.”
Recognizing the high bar set by other Division III teams, the team entered the competition not with the expectation to win but to do their best and represent their school and their town with pride. The team built a creature that incorporated mechanical, auditory and visual-electronic capability. The theme was bold but ended up being a well-calculated risk that contributed to their first place standing. As a result, the SPF HS OoTM team earned a place to compete in the NJ State OoTM Tournament at Ewing High School on April 6, 2019 in Ewing Township, NJ.
OoTM has four divisions, with Division I being from grades K-5. With their youngest in fourth grade, the coaches of the high school team formed a Division I team comprised of seven students currently attending elementary schools in the district and sponsored by Biomedical Research Institute of America: Anwar Khan, John Laudman, Mark Migliaccio, Brandon Nguyen, Knevin Pilley and Jackson Viscardi-Carelse of Evergreen School and Robbie Platts of School One. They quickly learned to work together as a team and true to the spirit of the competition, developed the solution for their chosen long-term problem. They worked diligently to build a mythical creature to compete in the Hide in Plain Sight category for Division I. The team placed fourth overall in their category and earned the second highest score in the Spontaneous Challenge phase. The determination, persistence and grit displayed by the seven boys, ranging in age from 9 to 10 years old, bodes well for them in winning top spots in future OoTM competitions. When the boys were asked how they thought they did during the competition, Anwar Khan claimed that “[They] thought [they’d] be judged harshly but by the time [they] were done it was more about the fun [they] had.”
Hats off to the coaches of the SPF HS and Biomedical Research Institute of America OoTM teams – Arif and Cynthia Khan. Thanks also goes to Bob Platts and Christine Laudman who served as the Biomed IRB team’s Team Volunteer and Team Judge, respectively.
Arif and Cynthia Khan experienced OoTM for the first time when their eldest child was in middle school and whilst residing in Connecticut. The immense intellectual latitude, imaginative showmanship and creative display of students’ problem solutions was mind-blowing and inspired Arif and Cynthia to search for and ultimately start an OoTM contingent here in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood area. The end-game is to build diverse, resilient and strong teams in SPF to compete in every category and every division at OoTM tournaments all over the world. Such notoriety would bring further prestige to the SPF School District.
If one is interested in starting or joining an OoTM team in the SPF area, they may reach out to Arif and Cynthia at the SPF area OoTM email address: spfootm@gmail.com.
Submitted by Jennifer Delos Santos
