The Dixon Elementary School Odyssey of the Mind (OM) is going all the way to Ames, IA, home of Iowa State University and the 2014 Odyssey of the Mind World Championships.
“We are a team,” said Dixon Elementary School Art Teacher and OM Coach Beth Howard. “It’s all for one and one for all.”
OM is an international competition for students in kindergarten through 12th-grade, as well college students, that challenges them to solve a problem based on a theme either by building something or performing a skit with original props and scenery. Teams are limited by how much they’re allowed to use and by the elements that must be included in their structure or sketch. Apart from that, team member’s imaginations are free to wander.
The Dixon team’s sketch earned the team a second place finish at the regional competition held at First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills and a first place finish at the state competition in Charlotte that earned the school its third trip to the world championships in four years.
“This year when we won state, the kids just blasted off,” Howard said. “When they announced Dixon Elementary School won, it was like a blaze went through them. They were kissing and dancing with the trophy.”
The world championships will be May 28 until May 31.
