Odyssey of the Mind students tie for 27th place at World Finals

Colonial Middle School’s Odyssey of the Mind team tied for 27th at the World Finals competition held in Michigan over Memorial Day weekend.

The team won a spot at the competition following its second place finishes at regional and state competitions held earlier in the year. They traveled to Michigan State University to compete against 50 teams. Their challenge was to create an eight-minute performance based on Homer’s epic poem, “The Iliad.” Students had to create a “Trojan Horse” to get past a wall. They also had to include in the skit a character from “The Iliad,” three original Greek chorus songs, a mosaic sign, a creative mask, and a statue that can change.

The team’s main character faked her death to trick Hermes to pull a coffin (Trojan horse) through the River Styx. 

The CMS team members are Hollis Becker, Sam Couzens, Stephanie Davies, Eleanor Hormell, Leo Nasatir, Sydney Saulino and Charlotte Stieg, and are coached by parents Steve Hormell and Jason Stieg.  The team put in nearly 100 hours of effort over six months to prepare for the competition. Students had to write a script, build the sets and costumes, and perform with no outside assistance, following a set of criteria to score points.