For the second consecutive year, four of Keystone Oaks School District's Odyssey of the Mind Teams earned top honors in the recent State Finals and have advanced to the World Finals!
These teams represent 27 students from Dormont Elementary School, Keystone Oaks Middle School, and Keystone Oaks High School. They will be competing at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at Michigan State University in late May.
In addition to earning 1st place in their division, the Wise Elves team received the highest award you can ever get at the competition, the Ranatra Fusca. The coveted Ranatra Fusca is not always awarded at competitions and is only awarded to teams who exhibit exceptional creativity, either through some aspect of their problem solution or an extraordinary idea beyond what the problem called for.
Wise Elves received this prestigious award because they “used several impressive and effective mechanical levers on their vehicle. Their propulsion was a driver-operated locomotive-style lever mechanism that successfully rotated the rear wheel in forward or reverse. In addition, another collapsible lever mechanism with a magnet tip was used to remove obstacles from the vehicle track. Lastly, a final mechanism was used to extend from the vehicle and flip a large salt shaker to simulate melting ice and remove ice from the track using magnets. Together, these mechanisms were designed and successfully incorporated into the presentation and worthy of a Ranatra Fusca Award.”
The advancing teams are:
KO Klassics - 1st Place Division 3 / Problem 3
Team members: William McGee, Anna Bittner, Bella Bischof, Marion Rent, Sydney Maegle, Michela Robbins and Kaybre Donahue -- Coaches: Chris Robbins and Amy Bittner
Precisely Cut Potatoes - 2nd Place Division 2 / Problem 5
Team members: Grace Luft, Frankie Custer, Afton Rogers, Alex Smith, Reagan Dobson, Rainer Loyd, Iris Brownlee -- Coach Jennifer Rogers
Spaghetti O's - 1st Place Division 1 / Problem 3
Roslyn Latshaw, Ella Carletti, Savana Sasnow, Sofia Taub, Julia Cerminara, Nora Smith -- Coaches Candice Latshaw and Kathy Cerminara
Wise Elves - 1st Place Division 1 / Problem 1Mia Rairigh, Reese Dobson, Rowan Dobson, Rilynn Walker, Finley Benkovich, Lena Donahue, Finely Patterson -- Coaches Jessica and Geoffrey Dobson
Each problem in the competition presented unique creative and engineering challenges:
Problem 1 challenged students to build a ride-on vehicle powered by a creative propulsion system.
Problem 3 required teams to take a classic story and create a skit about a dinner party inspired by the book.
Problem 5 asked teams to produce an "out of this world" performance, featuring a shooting star and lighting effects.
This year, 150 teams competed in the State Finals, with one dozen or more teams in each division.
We are #KOProud of all of this year's participants and coaches!