Dragons Compete at Odyssey of the Mind World Finals

Southlake took a record 10 teams to the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals recently on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing.  A total of 847 teams from 16 countries and 33 states participated in the Competition.  Southlake teams competed in four of the five different problem types: Vehicular, Technical, Classics, and Drama.  In addition to solving both Long Term and Spontaneous Problems, the teams took part in the Creativity Festival, Float/Banner Parade, and Pin Trading to meet kids from all over the World.  Most of our teams stayed in the dorms and experienced “college” life on the beautiful campus, the photo is taken behind our dorm along the banks of the Red Cedar River.  The students had a great experience.

Congratulations to a fabulous effort from all teams!  At the Closing Ceremonies, we cheered our top placing team, Dawson Middle School Problem 2 Division 2 team coached by Keith Buckley and Michelle Moore; they earned 5^th Place – a fabulous performance in the Technical Problem!  The SC High School team competing in the Division 3 Vehicular Problem placed 9^th; both the CMS Division 2 team Technical Problem and the EIS Division 1 team in the Vehicular Problem placed 11^th.  Rounding out our top ranking teams were the Senior High School Division 3 team in the Technical Problem placing 17^th and the WGES Division 1 team in the Classics Problem placing 18^th.  The other five teams gave outstanding performances as well: DMS Division 2 Drama team, DIS Division 2 Classics team, DMS Division 2 Vehicular Team, and DIS Division 1 Drama team.

Congratulations to all the students taking part in Odyssey of the Mind this year, they did a fabulous job and had a lot of fun.  The Division 3 World Finalist students are:  Braden Anderson, Jenna Buckley, Brandon Burleson, Michael Dachniwsky, Peter Lin, Mackenzie Murphy, Allie Newman, Claire Riordan, Nate Ruelas, Jack Veenker, Hannah Warner, Sarah Wassef, and Megan Yao.

The Division 2 World Finalist students are: Arez Ariz, Reilly Buckley, Sarah Chapin, Rachael Clemens, Kiera DiCesare, Sophie Dietrich, Ella Driskell, Jenna Eads, Sam Fleming, Andrew Fu, Kayla Grosskopf, Kaitlyn Guesner, Chaya Hemanth, Olivia Hooper, Heloise Hoffmann, Emma Johnson, Kaylin Jones, Miranda King, MacKenzie Kormann, Abi Kumar, Eric Lovenburg, Jake Marshall, Zack Marshall, Logan Mikolasik, Chloe Moore, Katie Moore, Sydney Nickel, Cole Radsdale, Diana Shaughnessy, Kylie Swanson, Jacob Trexler, Coby Warner and Marissa Vazhappilly.

The Division 1 World Finalist students are: Sophia Abiodun, Madison Bradford, Sarah Chen, Lissa Close, Gabby Dugger, Lizzie Garcia, David Guess, Alfred Hale, Alex Khazzam, Bella Khazzam, Lauren Lund,  Audrey Nelson, Payton Nickel, Olivia Pierret, Justin Sasek, Hutton Seltzer, Stephie Smith, Ryan Strange, Alysha Walsh.

Our Odyssey success in Southlake would not be possible without the love, dedication and patience of our amazing “parent-coaches”.  Thanks to our WF Coaches: Carl Anderson, Keith Buckley, Ann Dachniwsky, Diana DiCesare, Inna Dietrich, Rosalyn George, Hilary Hale, Sam Khazzam, Kathy Marshall, Michelle Moore, Shauna Newman, Shelli Nickel, Charlotte Sasek, Dana Smith, Leah Swanson, and Brady Warner.  Southlake Odyssey of the Mind is supported by our Regional Director, Cindy Featherston (RES Quest Teacher) who has done an amazing job supporting growth of the program in Southlake.  The Executive Board Past-President, Shauna Newman, is resigning her position and the Board would like to thank her for her strong leadership for over seven years.  Finally, our OM season would not be possible without the support of our primary sponsors: Little MusicMaker Conservatory, Kumon of Southlake and SAGT.  Our World Finals Sponsors included Jarrett Logistics and Hexpol, thanks for providing the transportation of our sets/props from Texas to Michigan!

Southlake Odyssey of the Mind is excited for another successful year as we look forward to the summer break.  Be on the lookout for opportunities to be a part of OotM next year coming in the Fall.