中文
HOME
HOME / LATEST NEWS / Content

Grade 6: OM 2016-2017

June 8, 2017

Grade 6: OM 2016-2017

The team from Shanghai High School International Division, led by Ms Shirley and Ms. Wang, attended the 38th Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. We started our preparation 7 months ago and triumphed in the regional and national rounds, paving the way for our first trip to the world finals.

The Odyssey of the Mind, or OM, originated in the U.S in 1978, designed as a competition of creativity and teamwork for the youngsters. Each team is required to have five to seven students, so teamwork is critical. The competition consists of two parts: a long term problem and spontaneous questions. The team may have several months to prepare for their long term problems, which are different every year. The spontaneous questions are presented to the team during the competition and each team will only have a few minutes to come up with the answers. As the questions are all new to the team members, it is a contest of creativity and teamwork. The one that gives better solutions and shows better creativity will win the competition.

Our long term question was “Catch us if you can”. It is a problem involving a side trying to meet at a secret meeting place and a side trying to stop them. The first side has to use three vehicles and prevent the evil side from catching them. The three vehicles must change in some form before arriving at the meeting place. The seven of us seized every minute and started to test our vehicles and props right away after we arrived in the U.S. Everyone put up the best effort hoping to get the best result. At last, we received the ranking of the 5th place among 71 participating groups from all over the world. It was a very good performance for the team that just participated in overseas competition for the first time.

This was a very good experience for our team. The 5th place is not the only thing we accomplished on the trip to the US. More importantly, we came back with more friends, a better understanding of teamwork, and the spirit of creativity that will benefit us for the rest of our lives. The seed of creativity was planted deeply in our minds, growing bigger and stronger with the water of teamwork. The success would not have been possible without a contribution from each of us.

We’d like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the school for the support and appreciate our teachers for their care. We hope that we can attend the OM competition next year again!

(Written by 6(1) Raymond, 6(7) Eric）