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| The Division I team from St. Joseph School in Dodgeville took second place in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in Ames, Iowa held recently. The team was made up of fourth and fifth graders: back row from left: Olivia Argall, JoJo Heimerl, Garrett Busch, and Paul Angel; front row from left: Maya Kramer, Harrison Hellen, and Anna Ruhland. (Contributed photo) |
DODGEVILLE — Amazing, unbelievable, impressive, and remarkable are all adjectives that describe the feelings from the students when they heard their team called for second place at the Odyssey of the Mind world finals.
St. Joseph School sent two teams to world competition recently in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University. There they competed against teams from all over the world.
Many teams had gone through multiple eliminations at sectional, regional, and divisional competitions, in order to get to world competition, so the competition was tough.
Both St. Joseph teams competed in Problem I, the Driver’s Test; however, they were competing in two different divisions.
Second place team
The Division I team, coached by Kent and Amy Kramer, included the following fourth and fifth graders: Paul Angel, Olivia Argall, Garrett Busch, JoJo Heimerl, Harrison Hellen, Maya Kramer, and Anna Ruhland.
This team competed against teams from states such as New Jersey, California, Michigan, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, and Pennsylvania as well as the countries of China, Singapore, Poland, Switzerland, and Indonesia.
There were 60 other teams in this division. The team from St. Joseph placed second overall.
The judging involves not only the long term project (vehicle) they created, but their performance and costuming and props.
In addition, the students competed in a spontaneous problem, without coaches, and without any prior knowledge of the type or kind of problem they would encounter.
The Division II team, also coached by Kent and Amy Kramer, included all sixth graders: Samuel Angel, Gabe Hart, Eli Jacobson, Will Kramer, Lucas Klosterman, and Braden Schmelzer. This team placed 16th out of 57 teams.
Representing Dodgeville
In total, more than 830 teams from all over the world competed at Iowa State University.
“To see the large number of students, from all over the world, fill the coliseum, and especially the large representation from other countries and large states, it seemed impossible that a small school from Dodgeville could even place,” said St. Joseph School Principal Sharon Wimer.
“The level of competition was unbelievable. Many of these students come from specialized schools and have already beaten hundreds of teams within their own state or country. We are so proud of our students and their coaches for the incredible amount of time, energy, and talent they put into this program,” Wimer said.
Also featured, was a Wisconsin float, created by Kent Kramer, to replicate a computer built in Wisconsin. It was entered in the float and banner competition.
Students representing the state of Wisconsin rode on the float that had to be carried down two levels into the coliseum by several men.