Tournament of Minds Regional Competition

Despite dreadful weather our two Tournament of Minds teams gathered with 43 other teams from Palmerston North, Kapiti, Whanganui and the Hawkes Bay on Saturday at Ross Intermediate.  Both teams completed the Spontaneous Challenge - which is always cloaked in secrecy on the day.  Maintaining silence about this challenge is actually a requirement for teams and is a part of upholding the spirit of TOM.  

Then - with a great deal of team work and fantastic help from our merry band of parents, both teams managed to get their props to their various rooms, ready to perform their Long Term Challenge Solutions.  All the feedback I had from parents sounded terrific, with both teams giving wonderful performances.

And...when it came down to the points on the day, all our hard work paid off!

The Year 5/6 team received Honours (2nd Place) in the Maths/Engineering category and our Year 7/8 team came FIRST in their category winning the shield and gaining a place in the National Competition.  This is held at Victoria University on September 23rd and includes the winning teams in each division and from each category from all the Regional tournaments - Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

An outstanding effort Teams!  and a huge thank you to all the parents involved - this Tournament would not have been successful without your support beforehand and on the day.  Thank you also to Sonya Mildenhall and Sarah Best for supervising the teams while I was judging, to Carl Giddens and Sarah and Richard Best for transporting the expansive props and sets and Alison Brown for her most marvelous tarpaulin on the day.  You were a stellar crew.  Bring on the Nationals!

A last rehearsal...

Waiting to compete - the year 5/6 team of Caleb Woisin, Kaija Fouhy, Amelia Grason, Olivia Persson, Hannah McLean, Maddison Brown and Riley Best.

The Year 7/8 Team  - Noah McCallum, Harrison Boerboom, Indiana Brown, Zoe Giddens, Amy van Leeuwen, Emma Mildenhall and Johanna Halcox

 The Results!  Honours (2nd place) to the Year 5/6 team in the Primary Maths/Engineering category (pictured with Warwick Grady, Regional Co-ordinator).

And 1st place to the Year 7/8 team in the Intermediate Social Science category - winning them a place in the National Final.

Tournament of Minds UPDATE!

Our two teams have had a lot of fun and are working very hard in this last week leading up to Saturday's tournament.  We have had moments of intense creative thinking, moments of great hilarity and, some moments of frustration as motivation and energy levels are impacted.

I am hugely proud of the work the teams have put in, the patience and self-discipline they have shown and the fantastic creativity they have applied to their challenge solutions.  They have also been willing to learn new skills,  be guided when heading in the wrong direction and generally step up when needed.

In these last few days, we are hoping to rehearse and learn lines, keep on practicing our Spontaneous Challenge skills and add the finishing touches to props and costumes, ready to compete on Saturday!

Here's a snapshot of the last few TOM days...

Drama Skills Practice. - Dora the Explorer Style - Zoe was a very convincing Backpack and Johanna was a very enthusiastic Map!  Noah (Boots) and Amy (Dora) solved the challenges presented by Indi, and stopped Swiper (Harry), while Emma was a very energetic preschooler!

Script discussions...with Whaea Hayley observing

Spontaneous Challenge Practice - quick-fire creative thinking...

Props and Costumes under construction...

Rehearsals...

Bring on Saturday!