Livermore team takes state title in Odyssey of the Mind

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

A team of seven Livermore School students from third to sixth grades won top honors March 24 at the state Odyssey of the Mind contest. The first-place finish will send the students to the world competition in Lansing, Mich., May 23 to 26.

To get to state, the team first competed at the northern regional contest. Tom Hall, volunteer adviser for the team and father of two members, said the students chose "I'm only thinking of you" for their prepared problem, which required them to create and present an original performance.

Guidelines stated the team had to include humor and develop a self-centered character that takes advantage of others three times. That character then had to convince others two or three times that what is being offered is helpful to them so the character can say, "I'm only thinking of you." The character then gets caught and the true nature is revealed. The skit ends with a surprise.

Hall said it helped to have an experienced team that knew what it was doing. Most had competed in the Odyssey of the Mind before, and one member as many as four times, he said.

Two-thirds of the team's total points are earned on its prepared problem, Hall said, and one-third comes from an assigned spontaneous improvisation.

Besides writing and acting in the performance, the students created all their own costumes and sets. They performed the same skit at state and will use it in the world competition.

"They make it better each time," Hall said.

The Livermore students will be raising funds to help finance their trip to Michigan. Anyone who would like to make a donation may call the Livermore school at 493-7834.