OM Tryouts

By Emily B - 6Ch

            What is OM? OM stands for Odyssey of the Mind. There are seven students on a team, and they are given a problem that they must solve. They must put on a skit that goes with their solution to the problem. That is called their “long-term” problem. You get about half of your points from this. All of this must be done in eight minutes or less.

Some of the problems include Structure, Vehicle, and Tech Transfer.

            The other half of your points comes from Spontaneous. Spontaneous is where you are given a problem and, depending on that problem, you are given a time to think and a time to respond. There are three kinds of spontaneous problems.  These are verbal, hands-on, and verbal hands-on.  Verbal is where they say a problem and you respond out loud. Hands-on is when you have supplies and they tell you to build or do something with those supplies. Verbal hands-on is when you are given one or two things, and you can hold it and use it as you say something about it. Only five members of your team are allowed to compete in Spontaneous. We did spontaneous problems at the tryouts.

              Only twenty-one kids are allowed to make OM, so if you tried out and didn’t make it, don’t worry. Just try out again next year.  That goes for everyone. If you are old enough, try out.