Schools

Unheralded Dowell Elementary Sends Students on Odyssey

Seven students from West Cobb school earn their way to the 2011 World Finals of Odyssey of the Mind at the end of the month.

Seven students and their teachers leave for the 2011 World Finals of Odyssey of the Mind at the end of the month. The reality of their accomplishment—scoring a second place finish that earned them the trip—had not quite set in.

After all, of the 10 elementary teams Georgia will send to the World Finals, eight originated from private schools and the ninth came from East Cobb. The final team came from unheralded Dowell Elementary School, a Title 1 school in West Cobb.

“Nothing like this has ever happened at Dowell,” says Tamela Isley, a gifted teacher at the school and a sponsor of the Dowell Odyssey of the Mind program. “So we are very proud to represent out school on such a large magnitude.”

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Odyssey of the Mind is an international competition for students from elementary school through college in which they engage in creative problem-solving challenges. The competition starts at the local level, continues into the state level and then to the finals.

The students create an innovative solution for one of five competitive problems to solve. Some can be technical in nature; others are artistic or performance-oriented.

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Two teams from Dowell qualified for state competition, held at Columbus State University in April. The Dowell team that earned a spot in the world finals did so by coming in second place with the competitive problem titled “Le Tour Guide.”

For this challenge, the students had to prepare an eight-minute program that used a character from a literary class as a tour guide (the students chose the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz) and a mode of transportation to at least three destinations, one of which had to be from the students’ imagination.

Fourth grader Sarah Torbert and third grader Morgan Watkins explained that the students wanted a music theme so they choose the homes of Elvis Presley (Graceland) and Michael Jackson (Neverland) as their main destinations. The students credit third grader Danielle Blakely with the original idea of their imagined spot.

Working together, the students built upon the idea and created Rockland, based in Utah, was a sort of natural Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame where artists like Elvis, Michael Jackson and Dolly Parton had their names engraved on huge stones. The students' mode of transportation: flying guitars.

Other aspects of the challenge required the students to create a prop completely out of recycled products, so Elvis fan Dylan Layberger carried around a camera made of a toilet paper roll, a box and leftover aluminum foil. The performance had to feature a guard keeping watch on something worthless, so wizard Kerrigan Larkin had to keep an eye on Michael Jackson’s blanket.

Finally, the entire project had to stay within a budget of only $125.

As the students prepare for the world competition, their school community has rallied behind them to help with the latest challenge: Raising the $1,000 per student and teacher for the trip to the University of Maryland on May 27 through 30.

Because Dowell is considered Title 1, the low-income school doesn’t have the resources many other schools enjoy. A series of fundraisers come to a head on Thursday when the school hosts a Creative Festival that will not only feature the performances of the Odyssey of the Mind students but a silent auction and a spaghetti dinner. The festival will be held at 6 p.m. at the school. For information, call the school at 678-594-8059.


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