Recently the Maine Odyssey of the Mind held its state tournament at Biddeford Middle and Intermediate Schools. The York School Department sent 10 teams to the tournament including 4 YMS teams to the primary tournament. It was a beautiful day to celebrate creativity, engineering, design, problem-solving, and teamwork. It was also an opportunity to witness the bravery of students who are willing to take risks, think outside the box, and be individuals.
The YMS Division II Problem 4 Odyssey of the Mind team, composed of students Morgan Murray, Dashiell Clark, Darwin Adams, Brinn McKenney, and Sophia Baialtzaliev, earned first place in their problem and division. The team's balsa wood structure, weighing just over 13 grams, supported the heaviest weight of the day: 350 pounds. Combined with outstanding scores in long-term problem performance, style, and spontaneous problem solving, that weight gave the team a decisive victory.
Congratulations to the YMS Problem 1, Drive-in Movie team, for taking second place! They had to create a vehicle that could accomplish 4 different tasks. The team came up with different propulsion systems to make the vehicle move.
Congratulations to the YMS Problem 3, Opening Night Antics team, for taking third place! This team created a wacky, funny performance based on the lesson or theme from a classic story. It included a rat named Ratferdo and a rubber band factory, along with other funny elements.