Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990 TAG: 9005290338
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And still the six-member Odyssey of the Mind team from Hidden Valley Junior High School last Thursday was still trying to meet its goal of raising the $5,000 needed for a trip to the World OM competition at Iowa State University May 31-June 2.
They were undaunted. They continued to rehearse their now-routine "Recycle" problem.
"It's interesting," parent coach Lynn Schleupner said. "They've been bouncing off the walls. And they've been doing this for a long time."
The team of sixth-graders - Peter Nevin, Andy Newton, Robert Herchenrider, David Allen, Ann Schleupner and Kris Wiseley - placed first in state OM competition last month, qualifying them to compete at the world meet this week.
During a practice run last Thursday, the Hidden Valley gym was littered with popcorn bags, crushed soda cans and peanut shells. Blindfolded, three team members maneuvered a course resembling a football stadium.
A non-verbal communication system of whistles, cymbal-clashings, clicks and hand claps guided them through the course and to the litter. Piece by piece, they picked up the trash, dropped it in bags, divided it at a makeshift recycling station and placed it in appropriate containers.
Momentum lagged a bit. The team was to complete its task in eight minutes. A team coach clocked them 9:12.
"They've been doing this for so long that they sort of think, `We know how to do it. We'll be OK,' " Schleupner said. "But they're the kind of team that when it gets down to the wire, they get it all together, and they do what they have to do."
The team was clocked during two subsequent practice runs at under eight minutes.
In "Recycle," a challenge devised by OM, teams must gather, sort and appropriately dispose of waste products without using the spoken voice. The approach and theme - a littered stadium after a football game - was the Hidden Valley team's idea.
"First we thought of sports, then football," Ann Schleupner said. "We thought of cowboys and Indians but decided that was dumb."
Ann has participated in the OM competition with two of her five current teammates since elementary school. They are pleased that working together all those years has finally paid off.
"We're excited," David Allen said. "We'd never even made it to state before. This is the perfect group with the perfect problem."
Patricia Bijwaard, a Hidden Valley teacher who serves as OM coordinator, described the team as bright, creative and active, physically and mentally.
"But they are by no means arrogant," Bijwaard said. "They are looking forward to competition that will pit them against children two to three years older from all over the country, China, Japan, Russia and Canada."
At the world competition, students will be judged on three levels - how well they execute the "Recycle" problem, a spontaneous problem for which they will have no advance planning and on style.
"Everybody is very proud of them," Bijwaard said. "They've kept their spirits up. It's difficult to sustain this."
Teams from three other Western Virginia schools have qualified for World Odyssey of the Mind: James River High School in Botetourt County; Community School, a private school in Roanoke County; and Gilbert Linkous Elementary School from Montgomery County.
by CNB