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Locke Odyssey of the Mind team preps for world finals

Klint Lowry/SUNCOAST

Mittye P. Locke Elementary School's Odyssey of the Mind team - Michael Miller, left, as Heracles; Taylor Berryhill, as Hera; Brianna Flynn, as "Squawker"; Madyson Turner, as King Eurystheus; Kayla Jimenez, as Selcareh; Amanda Smith, as Zeus; and Corina Hajj, as Iolaus - rehearse their self-written skit, "The Lost Labor of Heracles" in preparation for the world finals May 27-30 at Iowa State University.

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: May 19, 2009

Updated:

Seven students at Mittye P. Locke Elementary are packing up their togas and heading for corn country.

The school's Odyssey of the Mind team has earned itself a berth in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, May 27-30 at Iowa State University in Ames, where they will compete with students from around the United States and 26 countries.

Team members - Taylor Berryhill, Brianna Flynn, Corina Hajj, Kayla Jimenez, Michael Miller, Amanda Smith and Madyson Turner - and coaches Tisha Newton and Amanda Jimenenz earned their trip with a second-place finish at the state finals.

For them, the finals will be the apex of an odyssey of camaraderie and personal growth that began back in September.

"This team has dedicated a tremendous amount of time," Newton said. "If you had seen us at the beginning of the year, they were just a group of students."

The team has a keepsake from those first meetings, a twisted abstract of toothpicks and clay that was supposed to be a bridge but looks more like a squashed praying mantis. It was the end result of their first attempt to work as a team, and they keep it to remind themselves of how far they've come over the past eight months.

Odyssey of the Mind tests imagination, creativity and problem-solving skills. Competitions consist of two parts: exercises that require spontaneous bursts of imagination, and group-crafted presentations based on their choice of one of five "problems."

The Locke team chose a problem called the "Lost Labor of Heracles," based on the ancient Greek myth in which Heracles - known to the Romans as Hercules - is forced to perform 12 heroic tasks. The students had to create a story in which there is a 13th labor that was somehow lost to history.

The skit had to segue from the original myth, show Heracles perform the 13th labor and explain how it came to be deleted from the official story. Along the way, the story had to include a mythical beast and a classic Greek god or goddess brought to life.

Their story has Heracles discovering he has a twin sister named Selcareh - Heracles spelled backwards - and having to rescue her while dealing with political intrigue among the gods of Olympus. Part of the creative challenge was also pulling together costumes, props and sets under a strict $125 budget. Teams get points for creative use of recycled materials rather than going out and buying costumes.

It sounds like fun and games, but the team has worked hard all year, Newton said, meeting at least three times a week, even during winter and spring breaks.

On teacher planning days, when they rightfully had the day off, they came to school to practice.

This positive, competitive spirit should serve them well at the world finals, Newton said. The team wants to make a good showing of it, for themselves and their supporters.

It will cost about $12,000 to send the team to Iowa, and the school and surrounding neighborhood has dug deep to help. A school rummage sale raised about $1,500. Other fundraisers have included Mothers Day and Fathers Day photo sessions and "Kiss and Tell," where anyone could send someone a Hershey's Kiss with a note attached for a fee.

"We've been very fortunate," Newton said. "The school has a very close community and the families here that aren't necessarily part of the team have been extremely supportive.

"This group is like, 'Let's see how well we can do.' We have the community behind us; let's really put our best foot forward and represent this school and New Port Richey."

Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.

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