Cato Meridian 4th graders best in the world : News : CNYcentral.com

Cato Meridian 4th graders best in the world

by Laura Hand

Posted: 05.31.2010 at 7:31 PM

Laura Hand

Laura Hand anchors CNY Central's Weekend Today in Central New York.

Read more: Local, Education, Odyssey of the Mind, Cato Meridian

Medals, a trophy, and plans to defend title

Cato Meridian 4th graders and their first place trophy from Odyssey of the Mind / Photojournalist Brian Erb

Seven fourth graders from Cato Meridian Elementary marched--to cheers--in Cato's Memorial Day parade, wearing Lady Liberty hats and pulling their big first place trophy from Odyssey of the Mind. They'd gotten back home on Sunday night, after winning the world competition. Teacher Cece Kurpita, who accompanied them, says 'it's surreal' that a small school like Cato Meridian can beat teams from China, Singapore, Korea and many U S states--there were 62 teams in the division.
The team members, Nick Schmitt, Christian Germany, Lily Byrne, Jacey Phillips, Alec Cady, Lindsey Condon and Sage Ray started working in October, meeting before and after school and through school breaks to research and present an eight minute skit on a discovered ancient treasure and a current landmark as viewed from the future.
They used puppets to explain the Sweet Track in Somerset, England, a six thousand year old plank road http://archaeology.about.com/od/sterms/g/sweettrack.htm, and futuristic scuba divers who 'find' the submerged Golden Gate bridge in flooded San Francisco Bay. They built a five foot high replica of the bridge, based on downloaded pictures, as one of their props.
Julie Phillips, who was a parent coach for the team, says a lot of gifted and talented programs have been cut by schools, and this is a way for students to work on problem solving and creative thinking.
The team competed in the 3rd-4th-5th grade division, and expects to defend its title when the worlds are held next year, at the University of Maryland. Next year's problem categories are already posted on their website, http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/