Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994                   TAG: 9405030153
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY and CAMERON HUDDLESTON STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FRANKLIN STUDENTS SNAG OM VICTORY FOUR STUDENTS AT FRANKLIN COUNTY HIGH

Powell's teammates say she's always hyper, but they all were jumping for joy, hugging, kissing and joking while offering serious praise to one another.

Getting to the world finals of the Odyssey of the Mind, or OM, took countless hours of work and rehearsal. OM, billed as the largest educational competition in the world, is being held at Iowa State University next month. But, the group says, it also took friendship.

For instance, the maid at the hotel where they stayed refused to clean their room because they built a tent of mattresses. They claim they were practicing for OM's spontaneous competition.

"You have to have that kind of closeness for an OM team to really work," said Richard Handran, their coach and a math teacher at the high school.

The students will compete with students from across the United States and the world at the competition, designed to foster creativity and problem-solving skills among students.

Powell, along with Michael Horn, Judith Jamison and Michelle Ferguson, all juniors, created four musical instruments from scrap wood, doorbells, deer hide, glasses, a second-hand turntable and other scraps for the long-term project competition, Ombelievable Music.

The students were given eight minutes to perform their skit, which was a spinoff of the Dance of the Seven Veils and the story of John the Baptist. They did it in seven minutes and 39 seconds.

The students played tunes using pulley systems and electricity because they are not allowed to touch the instruments directly to make music at the competition.

Their most elaborate instrument was built with materials costing $15.

Using remnants of downed trees from this winter's ice storms and a washing machine motor, they created the "Banjom" or "apple picker." A red pick rotated by a wooden conveyor strummed a mounted array of guitar strings.

Needless to say, the project took an enormous commitment of time from the students.

One of their mothers recently told Handran, "I want my daughter back."

Handran also pulled 13-hour days with the students to prepare for competition.

"My wife only has one question," he said. "'Who's gonna cut the grass?'"