Warriors excel again in ‘mind' games

WESTFALL - Delaware Valley teams brought first place trophies home from the regional Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) Competition at Abington Heights Saturday in every division and category where the district competed. All four high school teams won first place and scored the highest in each of the three areas of judging: long-term, style, and spontaneous. The technical team, coached by Jim Fazzino, brought home the prestigious Rantra Fusca Award for extraordinary creativity. On Monday, Joseph Casmus, principal of the high school, announced that the teams “made DV history.” The seven member teams, ranging from second to 12th grade, have been preparing for the past three to four months. All four categories (technical, structure, classical, and vehicle) had a specific problem to solve. Each required certain tasks to be accomplished within an eight minute time limit; this is known as the “long-term” competition, worth a possible 200 points. The structure category is a bit different, with a specific amount of points awarded depending upon how much weight the team’s balsa wood structure can hold. Certain elaborate props and costumes used within the skits are designated by the teams to be judged for “style.” Teams can earn up to fifty points here. The last aspect of the competition is known as “spontaneous,” where teams are given a problem, either verbal or hands-on, and are asked to respond after a short time. For example, the technical team this year had to use pipe cleaners, pencils, and kinex pieces to construct a car to pull weights down a ramp. Points awarded in the spontaneous judging vary from problem to problem. For most of the four winning Delaware Valley teams, the preparation for regional competition continued until the evening before. Last minute touch-ups and rehearsals led right up to loading of a big rig which met the team at Abington the following morning. Competition started at about 9 a.m. and continued to about 3 p.m.. Audiences were “wowed” by the performances. Regional Director Gloria Rumberger commented that the competition improves every year. The northeast region is noted for being one of the most successful regions of the state. OotM is a huge part of the team members’ lives. Kaelyn Stadtmueller, a senior member on the technical team that won the Rantra Fusca, has been competing since 2nd grade and made it to states competition eight times. She has yet to see World Competition but remains hopeful saying that, “It feels like this is our year.” Ryan Balton, senior member on the vehicle team, has seven years of OotM under his belt. He has been to “Worlds” every year of his high school career, including receiving the Rantra Fusca at World Competition in his freshman year and placing fourth his sophomore year. These are just two of the many team members which OotM has been a journey for years now, with each competition challenging their creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and ability to work together. Teams finishing in first or second place in their category move on to State Competition in mid-April. Fourteen of the 28 teams advancing are from the Delaware Valley School District, a testament to the growth of this popular after-school program. The lucky teams will advance to Worlds in May. Last year, three teams from the district went to Worlds, with an elementary school team placing third, the best of any team from Delaware Valley OotM history. Senior Mike Osterberg (“Osterbird” as he is known for his role as a toucan in his team’s skit this year), commented that, “So far, this has been a great year for DV OotM, and it looks like many teams have a reasonable shot at winning the State Championship.” For a complete listing of the competition results, log on to http://www.geocities.com/nepaootm.