Odyssey Of The Mind 2012 World Finals • Iowa

Odyssey of the Mind 2012 World Finals • Iowa State University
Friday, May 25, 2012
Odyssey On Parade Takes Over Hilton Coliseum
BREAKING NEWS: Hilton Coliseum was invaded by
aliens from outer space last night.
And, a giant piñata, three oversize bananas, a giraffe, plus
a whole slew of other characters --it was time for the annual
Float and Banner Parade.
Most of the floats and banners showcased something
special about the state or country they represented. In a spirit
of collaboration, many associations had all the teams in the
state work together on the float or banner, even while they
were competing against each other to
advance to World Finals.
Morgan Vajdos and Riley Jaskia
Top Floats
were dressed as candy bars to accompany
Texas’ giant piñata. The
Colorado
Connecticut
state chose a tex-mex theme to evoke
Delaware
Cinco de Mayo, they said.
Georgia
“At state, everybody helped create
Mexico
the float,” Vajdos said. “It was really
New York
fun, we had all these strips to glue
Pennsylvania
on.”
Texas
The team from New York went
with a theme that was a little more
Top Banners
out of this world.
Arkansas
“We thought green—aliens are
California
green—so we got a lot of green stuff,”
Florida
said Lydia Freehafer, who was joined
Hong Kong
by Allyson Block in bright costume
India
and funky makeup.
Japan
Both Texas and New York were
Maine
among last night’s finalists. Eight
Maryland
floats and 10 banners were honored.
Michigan
“It was awesome to be here,” Freehafer
said. “It’s once in a lifetime.”
North Carolina
Other fun and funky floats and
banners:
Kentucky had a banner adorned with horses because the
Kentucky Derby is regarded as the greatest two minutes in
sports.
Wisconsin’s banner represented many of the state’s firsts,
including the first Super Bowl champions, the first typewriter
and the first ice cream sundae. The team members draped
themselves in toilet paper—Wisconsin is first in that, too.
Members of Hong Kong’s team donned food costumes to
show that Hong Kong is regarded as the culinary capital of
Asia.
Maine had a banner decked with a huge L.L. Bean boot.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the iconic footwear.
Connecticut brought a rare species of giraffe, known as a
“refrigerator box giraffe.” It was more than 12 feet tall, making
it just a bit shorter than male giraffes in the wild.
Above: The team from
India donned ornate
costumes for the
parade.
Left: The Wisconsin
team dressed up to
represent the state’s
status as toilet paper
capital of the world.

Page 2 | Odyssey of the Mind 2012 World Finals | Iowa State University Friday, May 25, 2012
OMER Dining News
Friday, May 25 – Saturday, May 26
Breakfast...............................6:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Lunch..........................................11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Dinner....................................4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 27
Breakfast............................................6 a.m. – 9 a.m.
Lunch**..............................11:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
(Seasons only)
Dinner**.............................................5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
(Seasons only)
Monday, May 28
Box Breakfast**.......................5 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
(Seasons only)
** Only for those with a post-conference
package.
Box Meals
Box meals are available through Saturday,
May 26, for all participants with
meal plans who have conflicts during
the noon meal.
n Provided on a first come, first served
basis from 7–10 a.m.
n Meals can be picked up at the
entrances to the following dining
centers: Conversations Dining in
Oak-Elm Hall, Seasons Marketplace in
the Maple-Willow-Larch Commons,
Union Drive Marketplace in the
Union Drive Community Center and
the Memorial Union Food Court.
n Participants are limited to one box
meal per day and a group representative
with a wrist band must pick up
their meals.
n The meals will consist of a sandwich,
chips, whole fruit, dessert, water and
condiments.
n Box meals should be eaten within
four hours following pickup to meet
food safety guidelines.
Bryce Pugh works on the block puzzle from Colorado at the Creativity Festival Thursday.
Creativity Festival Rocks Our Blocks
Team Photos
Premier
Portraits
will be
taking
team
photos.
Visit its
booth
at the
Creativity
Festival
in Lied
Recreation
Center or
at Hilton
Coliseum.
Photo times:
Creativity Festival
Friday, May 25th ...............................9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 26th ......................9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Hilton Coliseum
Friday, May 25th ........................9:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 26th .........................9:30 a.m. until
30 minutes after Awards Ceremony
The Creativity Festival in Lied Recreation
Center lives up to its name—it is a
chance to relax and have fun as well as an
opportunity for the participating associations
to show off their creativity and pride.
The Florida exhibit of “Not-So-Happy
Flamingos” was popular. The flamingos
were made out of recycled bottles that were
painted pink. The goal was to shoot them
with air from a bicycle pump and knock
them down.
Jim Field, a former coach from Orlando,
built the “slight take on Angry Birds” over
the course of about three weeks. He said
that Florida tries to come up with a new,
creative idea for its booth every year.
That’s not to say it isn’t educational—
Field brought his prototypes and failed
experiments so others can see how the
game was built.
“I learned how to aim better at the flamingo,”
said Natalie Lord, a fourth-grader
from Fond du Lac, Wisc., who singled
Florida’s exhibit out as one of her favorites.
Many exhibits were inspired by the state
or country that brought them—Kentucky
had a derby-themed booth complete with
racing horse dolls and the Hong Kong
booth taught participants to fold origami
and have fun with chopsticks.
Of course, some are just plain challenging--and
fun! Wisconsin brought an
oversized version of the game “Operation”
and Colorado had a giant geometric
puzzle. There was a lot of inspiring activity
at ISU’s College of Engineering booth that
was filled with LEGOs.
Bryce Pugh, a sixth-grader from the
Outer Banks, N.C., thought the Colorado
puzzle was difficult, but he solved it in the
end.
He said that meeting people from different
places and “just seeing everything
that everyone came up with,” were his
favorite parts of the Creativity Festival. At
his home state’s booth, he learned how to
put 10 nails on top of just one nail—could
you do that?
The Creativity Festival continues in
Lied Recreation Center today from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to
3 p.m.
Working
with
LEGOs
with
the ISU
College
of
Engineering.

Friday, May 25, 2012 Odyssey of the Mind 2012 World Finals | Iowa State University | Page 3
Remember to
Get Your Props
Shipped Home
Just a reminder that if you have props or
other materials you want shipped home, today
(Friday) is the last day to make arrangements
for Iowa State University to handle those
shipments. Any items left in the prop rooms
following the conclusion of competition will
be discarded.
To make these arrangements, you will need
to pick up an orange shipping sticker and turn
in all the completed information for a prepaid
or C.O.D. shipment for your props at the Prop
Information Desk in the Memorial Union
before 4 p.m. today. Questions? Please call
(515) 294-8484 and ask for Norm or Jared.
GOT YOUR TICKET TO RIDE?
Please stop by the Ames/ISU Information Desk at
the Memorial Union from noon to 6 p.m. on Friday to
pick up your return airport shuttle tickets.
All return shuttles will depart from the west side
of the Memorial Union. CyRide will begin running
at 3 a.m. on Sunday to pick up groups from their
Teams Charge Up Their
Spontaneous Thinking
residence halls to take them to the Union. Teams
staying in hotels as part of a World Finals housing plan
will be picked up at their hotel 15 minutes after the
scheduled departure time from the Memorial Union.
For more detailed information, please stop by the
Ames/ISU information desk in the Memorial Union.
What’s coming up
Awards Ceremony
The 2012 World Finals Awards Ceremony
will be held on Saturday at 7:30
p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. Plan to join us
as the winners for each problem will
be announced. Prior to the start of the
Awards Ceremony, all the participants
in the Odyssey Angels program will be
announced. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
and the line-up will begin at 6:45 p.m.
Buy a Raffle Ticket,
Try to Win a Quilt!
A quilt made from donated Odyssey of the
Mind t-shirts is being raffled to support Creative
Opportunities, Unlimited. The proceeds
will go towards supporting Odyssey teams in
various ways.
COU raises funds for scholarships and
World Finals housing grants. Many staying on
campus received such a grant. The COU college
scholarship is given to multiple applicants that
participated in Odyssey of the Mind. COU
hopes to raise money to support even more of
the many deserving teams with this raffle.
Want a chance at the colorful quilt, while
donating to a good cause? Tickets will be sold
around campus throughout the competition,
and the winner will be announced before the
Awards Ceremony.
Raffle ticket prices
$20 for 30 tickets
$50 for 100 tickets
$100 for 300 tickets
Teams danced their way into Pearson Hall for the Spontaneous competition. Once
inside, they had to be quiet, so conversations took place on the blackboard.
Usually World Finals is filled with noise
and excitement, but the Spontaneous holding
room in Pearson Hall is a different story. Here,
teams wait their turn to “think spontaneously”
and try to be as quiet as possible so those competing
can concentrate.
That doesn’t mean they had to be nervous
though! Teams drew on a chalkboard and
played quiet games like “heads-up seven-up”
and “telephone” to stay relaxed.
Each team had its own rituals to get ready
for the problem. One team actually shook the
nervousness out of their hands, arms and legs
before going in.
Before going inside the building teams had
the opportunity to make plenty of noise and
get rid of pre-competition jitters. Volunteers
wearing kilts read the rules and led highenergy
activities. Then, after one loud scream,
teams formed a conga line and entered the
building amid encouraging cheers from their
coaches, parents and friends.
International Festival
World Finals is a great opportunity to
learn about other cultures. Want to
make the most of it? Be sure to stop by
the International Festival, where teams
from around the world will be selling
items from their home countries. It’s
a win-win: the international teams
raise money that helps to fund their
trip to World Finals, and everyone gets
another chance to experience cultural
exchange.
The International Festival will be Saturday
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lied
Recreation Center.
Graduation, Coaches and
Officials Competition
Odyssey of the Mind Graduation and
the Coaches and Officials Competition
are tonight. Not only can you be a part
of an important rite of passage, but
you can see grown-ups compete like
the kids.
Dr. Sam, OMER and this year’s Spirit
Award winner Ron Raab-Long will be
at graduation to help students of all
ages celebrate. Many miss their school
graduations to be at World Finals, so
it’s a special event for them!
Afterwards, the coaches will show off
their creativity in a problem developed
just for them. The audience will choose
the winner if there’s a tie, so be sure to
come support your favorite coach or
official.
Both events are at Hilton Coliseum
starting at 7 p.m.

Page 4 | Odyssey of the Mind 2012 World Finals | Iowa State University Friday, May 25, 2012
Important Phone Numbers
The local area code for Ames is (515).
ISU Police/Public Safety: 294-4428
ISU/Ames Information Center:
294-8205
Odyssey of the Mind Information:
294-8206
Prop Storage Information: 294-3740
ISU’s HELPVAN: 294-4444 or 4-4444
Campus Information Center:
294-4357 (294-HELP)
ISU Thielen Student Health Center:
294-5801
Mary Greeley Medical Center
(non-emergency situations): 239-2011
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
8 a.m. – 7 p.m.: World Finals Competition,
various locations
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Creativity Festival,
Lied Recreation Center
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. -
5 p.m,: NASA Classroom Activities,
Memorial Union
10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m.:
NASA E-Theatre Presentations, Liu
Auditorium, Howe Hall
*7 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Graduation /
Coaches’ Competition, Hilton
Coliseum
*Tunnel line-up at 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
8 a.m. – 4 p.m.: World Finals Competition,
various locations
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Creativity Festival,
Lied Recreation Center
9 a.m. – noon: NASA Classroom
Activities, Memorial Union
10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.: NASA E-
Theatre Presentations, Liu Auditorium,
Howe Hall
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.: International
Festival, Lied Recreation Center
*7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.: Awards
Ceremony, Hilton Coliseum
9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.: Pre-teen
Party, Lied Recreation Center
9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.: Teen Party,
Memorial Union
9:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.: Coaches/Officials
Recovery Party, Iowa State Center
*Tunnel line-up at 6:45 p.m.
OMER’S World News Staff
Odyssey of the Mind Editor
Jennifer Veale
Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau
Lindsey Schwarck
Shawne Ungs
Ames Tribune
Andy Rohrback, Sarah Binder,
Dawn Olsen
Printing and Distribution
Daily Freeman Journal,
Webster City, Iowa
Ron Raab-Long won the Spirit Award this year because he demonstrates the essence of what
Odyssey of the Mind represents.
Spirit Award Winner:
‘We Do It For the Kids’
With 23 years of Odyssey
of the Mind involvement, Ron
Raab-Long has gone from
astounded parent to dedicated
volunteer, Association Director
and Vice President for Creative
Opportunities, Unlimited--
but this year, he can add Spirit
Award Winner to his list of titles.
“It’s an incredible honor,”
he said. “To be recognized by
your peers for something that
you love--none of us do this for
recognition--we do it for the
kids.”
The Spirit Award is given
each year to someone who
demonstrates the essence of what
Odyssey of the Mind represents.
Raab-Long was selected, in part,
Question of the day:
due to his successful leadership
as Delaware’s Association Director.
In 12 years, he has increased
state level participation from 33
teams to 272.
It all started when his son
Ben was a second-grade participant,
and Raab-Long saw what
a special impact Odyssey of the
Mind had on him.
“I was blown away by the
program,” he said. “The sharing,
the teamwork--there’s no conflict,
the kids all work together-
-the amazing creativity I saw...I
was dumbfounded.”
Today, Ben is Maryland’s
Association Director, and
Raab-Long’s daughter Liz and
wife Suzanne are longtime
If you win a medal, what’s the
first thing you would do or say?
volunteers--even cooking for
other state officials at events.
Raab-Long is transitioning
out of his role as AD, but he’s
not leaving the program. He’ll
become the president of COU
during World Finals 2012, and
he’ll continue to be a problem
captain and volunteer.
Raab-Long said the biggest
part of Odyssey spirit is creativity
– and creativity is an essential
asset for the future, “Today’s
top jobs didn’t exist 10 years
ago, and no one knows what
problems and opportunities the
future will hold. Training children
to be creative is the best
way to prepare for the future,”
he said.
Three words that define
the Odyssey of the Mind
spirit, according to
Raab-Long:
Commitment: Once you’ve
joined a team, whether as a
participant, parent or volunteer,
you have to give it your all and
do whatever you can to be the
best.
Passion: “You have to truly
love what you’re doing,” he said.
Raab-Long believes passion and
commitment go hand in hand:
if you’re passionate about what
you’re doing, commitment will
be easy.
Integrity: Integrity is
important in all aspects of life,
and Raab-Long said he believes
Odyssey of the Mind helps
promote integrity in participants,
because everything that goes on
stage with them is the result of
their own hard work.
Raab-Long’s favorite
memories from Odyssey
of the Mind
One year when World Finals
was held in Tennessee, it was
close to 100 degrees outside.
One team from British Columbia
brought an ice sculpture as
part of its solution and managed
to keep it frozen until the
performance.
A team of third-grade girls
working on a vehicle problem
built a giant computer mouse that
Raab-Long found fascinating.
They could sit inside and move
the mouse using a roller they
made out of a bowling ball and
half a basketball.
During a school visit, he
prompted the students to do a
quick spontaneous problem: They
had 10 paper plates that they
had to get into a trash can 10 feet
away. Every plate they got in was
worth 10 points, but every time
they stepped over the line in front
of them, 10 points was subtracted.
Raab-Long thought he had the
best solution by walking over
the line and placing them all in
at once -- receiving 90 points.
But, after much concentration, a
young girl beat him--by asking
her friend to walk the plates over
for her.
Answer the question and see other
responses at the World Finals Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/
2012OdysseyoftheMindWorldFinals