The Fairport High School Odyssey of the Mind team competing in the "Emoji, Speak for Yourself" technical perfomance problem won 2nd place at the New York State Finals tournament on April 7. With their outstanding performance, they have earned an invitation to World Finals, to be held May 23-26 at Iowa State University.
All Odyssey of the Mind competitions include an 8-minute performance that includes required techinical, artistic, and performance elements. This team's solution involved a skit without spoken words, with ideas shared through expressive performance, dance, sound effects, music, a mechanical representation of texting, and… emojis! These life-size icons transformed in shape and size to help the team retell a fairy tale. In order to create these transformations and other props, the team creatively utilized engineering, artistry, and even chemistry skills.
The other component of an Odyssey of the Mind competition is "Spontaneous", when each team is given a secret problem to be solved on-the-spot. The team won the highest score in this portion of the competition, helping secure their invitation to Worlds.
The team consists of:
Abi Deniz, 12th grade
Angie Maier, 12th grade
Shannon Cook, 12th grade
Julia Allen, 11th grade
Elena Merle, 11th grade
Megan Merle, 11th grade
You can support the team's fundraising efforts by purchasing tickets for the May 15 Chicken BBQ, or by making a donation on their GoFundMe page.