Noble Odyssey of Mind team qualifies for world championship at MSU

From left, Ethan Chandler of North Berwick, Maggie Sebert of North Berwick, Jordan Lister of Lebanon, William DoByns of North Berwick and Natalie Randall of North Berwick show off Odyssey of the Mind second place Maine trophy. (Courtesy photo)

NORTH BERWICK - What does a raccoon named OMER, time travel, classical art, and inspiration have in common? An unforgettable performance designed by seven students from Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine.

Earlier this month a group of them achieved an impressive milestone, qualifying for the Odyssey of the Mind World Competition at Michigan State University next month.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international creative problem solving program for students in kindergarten through high school and beyond. It is designed to encourage teamwork, divergent thinking and risk-taking through work in groups of 5-7, under the guidance of volunteer coaches.

At Noble High seven students met weekly as a team under the guidance of coach Martha DoByns, to solve the classics problem called "It's Time, OMER" which is described as "The future and the past collide in this problem about important works of art - both existing and yet-to-be-created...They will see OMER inspire two classical artists and a team-created artist from our future. The performance will include how the three works of art positively impact the world, a visual and audible effect that indicates when time travel is occurring, two re-creations of the classic works of art selected from a list, and a team-created work of art." (http://www.meodyssey.org/program-info/)

This team has been working hard for months, giving up hours after school and on weekends to prepare an incredibly original skit, scenery, props, artwork and costumes. They competed at the regional level where they qualified for states, and competed at the state level where they placed second, earning them an invitation to the World Competition in East Lansing, MI from May 24-27. Their hard work, efforts to improve the solution of the problem, and their creativity will continue to progress before leaving on their journey to Michigan.

The team does have a GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/noble-odyssey-of-the-mind to offset the cost of travel to Michigan and participation in the competition. They also plan to contact local businesses and fraternal organizations for donations to help them in their academically and creatively challenging pursuit to compete at this advanced level.