omer’sfriday, may 27, 2016 odyssey of the mind 2016 world finals iowa state university world news

In an effort to create a fun way to educate par-ticipants of Odyssey of the Mind World Finals on their home state of Colorado, Tim Hebert and his family decided to bring in a twist on a classic board game to the Creativity Festival Thursday.

Hebert’s booth had three “Giant Jenga” games set up, with each block labeled with one of Colorado’s 53 14,000-foot mountain peaks.

“The idea is to build a peak as high as you can,” Hebert said. “It’s very big and interactive, and the kids really like it.”

His family is originally from Fort Collins, Colo., and according to Hebert, this is the third year in a row that he has brought the Jenga booth to the World Finals. His two children are on a team (coached by his wife) that qualified for the event this year, and because of the booth’s popularity over the years, he decided to bring it back.

“It has been one of the most popular events at the Creativity Festival every year,” Hebert said. “We’ve tried different things, but

the last couple of years, just simply doing the building blocks has been so popular that we’ve just let that go.”

But it was another team from the Mountain West region that stole the show. Charlie Sims, 10, and his team from Park City, Utah, were able to stack 21 blocks Thursday, and set the record.

“(It was) just teamwork,” Sims said. “We helped each other out and relied on each other.”

Sims and his teammates all said that they have

enjoyed their time so far this week, and though they still have to get some swim-ming in, they said Odyssey of the Mind has been a great experience.

“It’s really fun,” Sims said. “(I’ve liked) every-thing; it’s all been amazing.”

The creativity festival provides a wide variety of interactive booths, OMER’s pins, creative challenges and more for students to participate in. It contin-ues through noon on Satur-day at the Lied Recreation Center.

From left, Jonny Spencer, 9, Charlie Sims, 10, and Molly

Sims, 11, all of Park City, Utah, try to break their record

of stacking 21 blocks on Thursday at the Colorado booth

of the Odyssey of the Mind’s Creativity Festival. PHOTO BY

GRAYSON SCHMIDT/AMES TRIBUNE

By Grayons SchmidtAmes Tribune

The imagination and creativity of teams at this year’s Odyssey of the Mind World Finals was on full display Thursday night for the float and banner parade in Hilton Coliseum, where students selected a distinct theme to show-case their state’s or coun-try’s unique culture.

Leading the groups was the grand marshal and everyone’s favorite furry friend Omer.

The group from Vir-ginia under association director Dennis Godfrey decorated their float to the theme of Cirque du Odyssey.

“We decided to do the circus theme,” said student Ashley Nguyen.

The Virginia team said they all had a fun first day

at Odyssey of the Mind on the Iowa State University campus in Ames.

“We did a bunch of pin trading,” said Lily Noyd. “Our Medusa head pin is really popular.”

Other themes on banners and floats included Vermont stu-dents wearing furry beards and pointy hats with a banner reading, “Gnome Sweet Gnome,” and Ken-tucky students racing into the area dressed as jockeys and sporting stylish hats for the Kentucky Derby.

Michele Freitag with Maine team said they selected the theme for their float during last year’s world finals, cele-brating the 1-in-50 million rare half red and half black lobster found in the state.

The students from Maine started in January and made more than 1,000 tissue paper flowers to create the lobster show-cased during the parade.

Students

from

Arkansas

participate

in the

banner

parade

Thursday

evening

at Hilton

Coliseum.

PHOTO BY

SARINA

RHINEHART/

AMES TRIBUNE

Jenga provides a balance of information

BANNER FINALISTS:ChinaIndonesiaMexicoTogoArkansasCaliforniaMissouriNew jerseyTexasVirginia

FLOAT FINALISTS:CanadaIndiaJapanDelawareGeorgiaMaineMichiganNew YorkNorth CarolinaPennsylvania

By Sarina RhinehartAmes Tribune

Floating some fun ideas

Odyssey of the Mind pin trading has been a tradition for more than 35 years. Mil-lions of pins have been traded through-

out the years and thousands of friendships have been made in the process.

Connie Vincent, a past style judge from New York, has been collecting pins since 2002. She has helped collect over 3,000 pins for herself and her

grandson. Vincent said her favorite part about pin

trading is the kids. She loves interacting with young OMers and teaching them how to make good trades.

“People from Iowa are good friendly people,” said Vincent. During the last World Finals in Ames, Vincent experienced Iowa’s friendly culture first hand.

“We went out to eat and the restaurant didn’t accept credit cards,” said Vincent. “Before we

could get cash from the ATM, the family in the booth behind us paid for our meal.”

This year, Vincent went to the same restaurant but instead payed for another table’s meal- hoping to spread the same joy as she experienced in 2014.

Vincent hopes the tradition will continue and more people will “pay it forward” to impact some-one’s day positively.

The Odyssey of the Mind Spirit Award is presented to an individual involved in the Odyssey of the Mind program who,

through personal action, demonstrates the encouragement and development of coopera-tion, self-respect, and the appreciation and understanding of others. This year, the 2016 Odyssey Spirit Award Winner is Fern Brown.

Fern reminds us about the true meaning of Odyssey family and is always there to lend a helping hand, a kind ear, and a creative solution to a problem!

She began her work with Odyssey as many volunteers. Since then, she has taken on many projects: Regional and Association Director, Coach of the first senior citizen WF team, Judge, Odyssey-Board of Directors, and much more!

Whether it is awarding grants to teams through COU, volunteering in many aspects at World Finals, or working tirelessly to grow the Maine Association, Fern is a role model in the Odyssey community and beyond.

Outside of the program Fern is active in her community. She assists with publicity for York County Senior College, Maine Educators of the Gifted and Talented, and is a presenter at regional educational conferences. Fern is the Director of the EXCEL (Gifted & Talented) Program at MSAD 60 in Maine. “Teaching is my love, but Odyssey is my passion, and my most successful and effective lessons have been those where I use Odyssey as an instructional base,” said Fern.

Fern’s acceptance of the award truly shows her special brand of Odyssey spirit, “There are accolades we may receive in life, but being honored by your family is far beyond any-thing you can experience. Just like my “real” family, Odyssey family has always been with me, through great, and not-so-great, times in my life. When I’m at Odyssey, I’m home. The Spirit of Odyssey, the amazing team members, devoted coaches, committed judges, generous volunteers, selfless leaders, truly lifts me.”

Team Photos Plan to get your team photo taken during

World Finals. All teams photographed will be in the yearbook.

Photos will be taken at the Creativity Festival (Lied Rec Center)n Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. n Saturday: 9 a.m. to noon

Photos will also be taken at Hilton Coliseumn Thursday-Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.n Saturday: 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Team picture prices:n 5x7 — $10n 8x10 — $18n Key Chain package — $20 (includes a 5x7

team photo with two photo key chains)n Odyssey Yearbook — $20

Odyssey of the Mind EditorJennifer Veale

Ames Convention & Visitors BureauCrystal DavisBri GerkeAustin Goode

Ames Tribune StaffMichael CrumbSarina RhinehartSean Sears

Printing and DistributionDaily Freeman Journal, Webster City, Iowa

OMER’S World News Staff

OMER Dining NewsYour wristband is good for entry into the dining centers and special events.CONVERSATIONS DINING (OAK-ELM): PinkUNION DRIVE MARKETPLACE: OrangeHILTON COLISEUM (LUNCH ONLY): PurpleMEMORIAL UNION FOOD COURT: BlueSEASONS MARKETPLACE: Red

Friday, May 27 to Saturday, May 28BREAKFAST: 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. LUNCH: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.DINNER: 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 29BREAKFAST: 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.LUNCH*: 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. (Seasons only)DINNER*: 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Seasons only)* Only for those with a post-conference package.

Prop return shipment reminder

You will need to pre-arrange for prepaid or C.O.D. shipment of any materials that you want shipped back to you. Return

labels must be picked up in advance at the Prop Information desk. All returns must be processed through the Prop Information desk. All return goods must have a return label attached. ISU will not be responsible for returns left without proper paperwork. The deadline for material to be

picked up for return to Central Stores is noon, Saturday, May 28.

For further information, please call (515) 294-8484 and ask for shipping and receiv-ing information. For questions, call Jared Hohanshelt at (515) 290-7189. Riders will notbe allowed in the rear of any delivery truck. Please note there is a 15-minute parking time limit for designated prop drop-off areas.

Odyssey Spirit Award Winnerfriday may 27, 2016 odyssey of the mind 2016 world finals iowa state university page 2

Return airport shuttle informationAll return shuttles will depart from the

main hub on the west side of the Ste-phens Auditorium at the Odyssey of the

Mind bus stop. CyRide will begin running at 3 a.m. to bring teams to the departure location. The A (orange) route bus will bring you to the Ste-phens Auditorium bus stop. Teams staying in

Team Hotels will be notified of scheduled departure time and location pick-up.

For more detailed information or if you have any additional questions, please go to the Ames/ISU information desk in the Memorial Union.

Spirit Award Winner, Fern BrownPHOTO BY CRYSTAL DAVIS/AMES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

Pin trading... an Odyssey tradition

Connie Vincent trading pins PHOTO BY AUSTIN GOODE/AMES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

World Finals is a great opportunity to learn about other cultures. Want to make the most of it? Be sure to stop by the International Festival on Sat-

urday, where teams from around the world will be selling items from their home countries.

It’s a win-win: the international teams raise money that helps to fund their trip to World Finals, and everyone gets another chance to experience cultural exchange.

The International Festival will be Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lied Recreation Center.

Check out the International Festival

Florida Team orbits into World Finals with vehicle licensed in IowaAt the beginning of the year, Day-

spring Academy’s Division II team members decided they wanted to

incorporate used license plates into their problem’s solution. After all, it was a vehicle problem they were solving. The team posted a request for old license plates on a local internet exchange, and the first (and only) person that responded had two license plates from Iowa.

“Tony and Rhea Selch, the couple who gave us the license plates, asked what they were for. When I started to give my stand-ard explanation of Odyssey of the Mind, they stopped me immediately. They knew

all about Odyssey of the Mind as they had both worked at Iowa State University, only recently retiring to Florida”, recalls team coach Harold Windlan.

The team’s response? “It’s a sign! It was meant to be with World Finals at Iowa State University”!

Dayspring Academy is competing in No-Cycle Recycle and their vehicle, while licensed in Iowa, is a UFO that comes to Earth to offer help.

Dayspring Academy team members have been involved in Odyssey of the Mind for many years on several teams, and their coaches, Harold and Audrey Windlan,

have been coaching for six years. When asked why they participate in Odyssey of the Mind, the team gave credit to the long lasting friendships they have forged, a sense of family with Odyssey of the Mind, and learning a method of critical thinking that helps you solve real life problems.

Tony and Rhea were happy to help out and have kept in touch with the team. “We hope they do well at competition. We can’t wait to hear how it all turned out.”

Team members include: Elsa Hagerup, Victoria Rooney, Joshua Dumas, Ella Windlan, Annalise Minogue, Kayleigh Weber, Laney Windlan.

friday may 27, 2016 odyssey of the mind 2016 world finals iowa state university page 3

Get the App! STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE ODYSSEY OF THE MIND WORLD FINALS APP!

n Go to the App Store on your phone or tablet device and search for OMER’s World or scan the QR code!

Graduation and Coaches CompetitionTonight at 7 p.m. will be graduation for those par-

ticipants who missed their own gradutions to be at World Finals. Then, beginning at 8 p.m., cheer on the

coaches during the coaches competition.

Creative Opportunities Unlim-ited is holding a quilt and pin set raffle to raise money for its scholar-ship fund. Get tickets at both sou-venir sites! See the display at the Memorial Union.

COU raffle reminder Check out the Virtual Reality Center

Space is available on a first come, first serve basis. No advance reservations are available, and space is limited to 230.

Location: Howe Hall, Alliant Energy-Lee Lie Auditorium

Friday, May 27: 2 - 3 p.m.

Be sure to stop by the Blanket Project booth at the Creativity Festival in Lied Recreation Center and chat with the Blue Valley Odyssey Angels, the origi-

nal Blanket Odyssey Angels. Kids can make a blanket that will be donated to local foster homes. They will be at the booth during the following times:

FRIDAY: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. & 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.SATURDAY: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Odyssey Angels Blanket Project

PHOTO BY AUSTIN GOODE/AMES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

Dayspring Academy Division II Team PHOTO BY BRI GERKE/AMES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

Important phone numbers for the 2016 World FinalsEMERGENCY ONLY: (fire, police, ambulance) 911The local area code for Ames is 515ISU POLICE/PUBLIC SAFETY: (515) 294-4428

ISU/AMES INFORMATION CENTER:(515) 294-8205

ODYSSEY OF THE MIND INFORMATION: (515) 294-8206

PROP STORAGE INFORMATION: (515) 294-3740

ISU’S HELPVAN: (515) 294-4444 or 4-4444 (from a campus telephone)

CAMPUS INFORMATION CENTER: (515) 294-4357 (294-HELP)

ISU THIELEN STUDENT HEALTH CENTER:(515) 294-5801

MCFARLAND AFTER HOURS CARE CLINIC:(515) 956-4044

MARY GREELEY MEDICAL CENTER (NON-EMERGENCY SITUATIONS): (515) 239-2011

Odyssey World Finals Schedule

Friday, May 27, 20168 A.M. TO 6 P.M.: World Finals Competitions, Vari-ous Locations9 A.M. TO 5 P.M.: NASA Creativity Festival & Creativ-ity Festival, Lied Recreation Center9 A.M. TO 5 P.M.: Souvenir Sales, Memorial Union, Campanile Room; Lied Recreation Center9 A.M., 11 A.M., 1 P.M., 3 P.M.: NASA E-Theater, Howe Hall1 P.M. TO 2:30 P.M.: Dr. Sam’s Book Signing, Lied Recreation Center*7 P.M. TO 9 P.M.: Graduation/Coaches Competi-tion, Hilton Coliseum9 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT: Recreation Program - Div. 3 & 4 only), State Gym, Pool, & Climbing Wall

Saturday, May 28, 20168 A.M. TO 3 P.M.: World Finals Competition, Various Locations9 A.M. TO 3 P.M.: Creativity Festival, Lied Recreation Center9 A.M. TO NOON: NASA Creativity Festival, Lied Recreation Center9 A.M., 10 A.M., 11 A.M., 12 P.M.: NASA E-Theater, Howe Hall9 A.M TO 5 P.M.: Souvenir Sales, Memorial Union, Campanile Room; Lied Recreation Center (9 a.m. – 3 p.m.)11 A.M. TO 3 P.M.: International Festival, Lied Recre-ation Center*7 P.M. TO 9:30 P.M.: Awards Ceremony, Hilton Coliseum*Tunnel line-up at 6:45 p.m.9:30 P.M. TO 12:30 A.M.: Pre-teen Party, Lied Recre-ation Center9:30 P.M. TO 12:30 A.M.: Teen Party, Memorial Union9:30 P.M. TO 1 A.M.: Officials Party, Iowa State Cen-ter, Harvest Courtyard

This year’s Odyssey Angels are from Radford University and its project was the Awesome Box Costume Squad

(ABC), creating box Halloween costumes for children in wheelchairs. OMER’s News sat down with the Odyssey Angels to learn more about the team and its project.

Q: What inspired you to become part of the Odyssey Angels?

A: We have been coming to World Finals for many years and when we watched the Odyssey Angels video and decided we wanted to do that.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the Awesome Box Costume Squad?

A: It took one team dinner, eating Mexican food, and we realized we were good, very good, at making box costumes.

Q: Did you have an “aha” moment when working on your project?

A: At first, when we were creating the cos-tumes, it wasn’t relatable to the person we were making it for. Once we delivered the costumes and met the recipient, the connec-tion was made and it made everything come together.

Q: What challenges did you experi-ence with your project?

A: Fitting the costumes was very challeng-ing. Each one was custom designed.

Q: What was the response from the families who received your Halloween box costumes?

A: Pretty fantastic! A Mom cried.

Q: Will you do this project again next year in your community?

A: Absolutely, we will make costumes again!

Q: Your team consists of upper class-men in college. What is it that makes you continue to compete in Odyssey of the Mind?

A: The people we have met and continue to meet. Also, what we get to do in competi-tions is nothing like what we experience in college. Everything is new and fresh.

Q: You volunteer at Spontaneous. Tell us what you do as a volunteer.

A: Spontaneous is a competition that many teams arrive at feeling nervous and anxious. It’s our job to help make them feel more comfortable about competing. We have a “pre-Spontaneous” dance room where we lead teams in dancing to help get them to relax and have fun.

Q: Do you have any advice to offer to other teams who may be consider-ing becoming part of the Odyssey Angels program?

A: It is definitely do-able. Don’t hold back and be yourself!

You can see the Odyssey Angels at the Creativity Festival at these times:

Friday, May 27: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Saturday, May 28: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Graduation Ceremony is tonight...have you found Graduation CY?

Q & A with this year’s Odyssey Angels

2016 Odyssey Angels (from left to right): Autumn Foster, Megan Lee, Cade Skalka, Gerald Pierre, Audra VanDerwerker. Not pictured: Kenzie VanDerwerker PHOTO BY BRI GERKE/AMES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

Graduation CyPHOTO BY AMES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

friday may 27, 2016 odyssey of the mind 2016 world finals iowa state university page 4

Scan the QR code and you’ll find a full list of all the Cy’s and where they’re at in our community!

Recreation facilities on campus offer opportunities for funFRIDAY, MAY 27:9 a.m. to 6 p.m. State GymNoon to 5 p.m. State Gym PoolNoon to 5 p.m. – Memorial Union CyBowl1 p.m. to 5 p.m. – State Gym Rock Climbing Wall2 p.m. to 5 p.m. - Ames Furman Aquatic Center (Don’t forget your towel!)9 p.m. to midnight – Teen Program, Division 3 and 4, State Gym, Pool, and Climbing Wall

SATURDAY, MAY 28:9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – State GymNoon to 5 p.m. – State Gym Rock Climbing Wall1 p.m. to 4 p.m. State Gym PoolNoon to 5 p.m. – Memorial Union CyBowl1 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Ames Furman Aquatic Cen-ter (don’t forget to bring a towel!)

*FURMAN AQUATIC CENTER Don’t forget to check out the Ames Furman Aquatic Center! Jump on the #6 shuttle, outsidethe Student Services Building, and then it’s a quick and easy ride to the Aquatic Center. Don’t forget to bring your towel!