The Mind Games Tournament Tests Students’ Creativity And Thinking Skills

Sat., March 9, 1996

Carla K. Johnson Staff Writer

A bout 700 students will haul painted refrigerator boxes, balsa-wood towers and contraptions on wheels to Cheney today for the regional Odyssey of the Mind tournament.

Teams from Northport, Pullman, Davenport, Spokane and other Eastern Washington towns will converge to test their creativity against other young brains.

Among them will be the Fantastic Five, a team from Spokane’s Regal Elementary.

“It stretches my mind and it’s a fun thing to do,” said team member Geoff Wright, a fifth-grader.

Smithsonian magazine called Odyssey of the Mind “part science fair, part masquerade party and part junior Bell Labs.” One million students compete worldwide.

Teams accumulate points based on how they solve problems. The Fantastic Five’s task was to create a humorous skit about an original tall tale. They wrote their own script and made their own backdrop.

Adults cannot offer advice, which becomes an exercise in biting one’s tongue, said Regal teacher and coach Cecilia Mooney.

Mooney has seen Odyssey of the Mind creativity spill over into her classroom.

“That’s the bonus that keeps us involved,” she said.

Slow to join the movement, Spokane School District now has several schools participating. To compete, schools must pay a $135 fee.

Regal in Hillyard made the competition a priority, largely because Mooney’s daughter had been involved. While many Spokane schools rely on parent volunteers to coach teams, Regal pays teachers a token amount to coach.

The school serves a low-income neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean its students can’t hold their own, said teacher-coach Rick Severn.

“Any kid can be an OM kid. You can teach creativity,” Severn said.

Spectators are invited to today’s tournament. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Eastern Washington University.

Winners will compete at the state level in April in Yakima. The world tournament follows in late May at Iowa State University.

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