‘A new sixth sense’

MONROE — It was 45 minutes before school would officially begin on Tuesday morning, but the North Main Elementary Odyssey of the Mind team was already focused on practicing their spontaneous responses to unknown inquiries for their world competition participation at Iowa State University in May.

Using a deck of cards, each student tossed a card to the center of the table to signify he or she completed a turn responding to the request, “Name something fuzzy.”

Their responses were varied, quick and creative - as OMers must be - and ran the full gamut of everything from “Fuzzy Wuzzy, the bear” to “my father’s legs.”

The exercise was designed to keep the team and its imaginative improvisation skills sharp as they continued perfecting their skit which requires them to apply their creative skills to a performance addressing a particular scenario.

“OM really helps me with my academics,” said team member Kajetan Leitner, after the card challenge was completed. “I look at something but now I think about it in three or four different mediums. After awhile, it becomes instinctual to do it that way. It’s a new sixth sense.”

Fund raising The four first-place teams will need that extrasensory perception to come up with ways to raise an additional $3,000 to get their teams to Iowa.

So will the second-place middle school team - which is also invited to participate in worlds competition - because it must raise the full cost of the trip: $8,000.

With only a $20,000 budget, Monroe-Woodbury’s OM worlds competition budget has been exhausted and officials told the teams they must come up with additional funds to make the trip a reality.

That will allow five teams and coaches to travel by coach bus on a 19-hour, two-day trip (including an overnight stay in Cleveland) to Ames, Iowa, where more than 25 nations will compete in a contest testing the creative minds of these academic athletes.

An all day fund raiser was held this past Tuesday at Applebee’s at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, where 10 percent of all sales was donated to OM. The Monroe McDonald’s on Route 17M will donate 15 percent of all sales on Monday, April 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. Other community events are forthcoming.

Additionally, a fund-raising Web site has been set up at www.Longaberger.com to support teams, with 25 percent of all sales donated to the cause. Buyers should visit www.longaberger.com/susanleitner1, and then choose “Odyssey of the Mind” under “look up host.” Orders must be placed by May 7. Longaberger specializes in handmade baskets, pottery, wrought iron and other items.

And individual schools are planning other in-house activities, like the forthcoming “Hat Day” at North Main where students will pay $1 to wear their favorite hat for the day.

‘There is no correct answer’ The excitement and stress of practicing and updating their skit routines, planning a trip and figuring out how to raise last bit of money to make the trip a reality hasn’t deterred any of the five teams of their enthusiasm about the OM experience.

“It helps me as a person,” said Jenna Walsh. “It shows me techniques I’d never really thought of myself and I can use every day.”

Her teammates had similar notions.

Brad Pinkus: “Creativity is important in my life. It lets people know who the ‘real us’ are.”

Alyssa Paverman: “It helps me with book and school reports. My mother has been like, ‘OM has really paid off.’”

Emma McInerney: “In OM, there are not a lot of rules. You don’t have to worry about what’s right and what’s not right. There is no correct answer.”

Hayley Cowart: “You get to let your imagination run wild. It’s not an apple; it’s really a polar bear in an accident.”

Brendan Fernandes: “OM has really changed my life. I look at things differently. I can connect to things differently. We all have special talents. Creativity is in everybody.”

In addition to reinforcing the value of creativity in school and at home, team members also saw OM’s usefulness in challenging situations.

“If we can show our true creativity in times of crisis, we can solve things really fast,” Kajetan added. “That’s the advantage.”

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series spotlighting the five Monroe-Woodbury School District teams participating in Odyssey of the Mind world competition.

By Nancy Kriz