Five students from Thales Academy in Wake Forest have persevered through regional and state finals and on May 22 through 25 will compete in the world finals of the Odyssey of the Mind at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
The students are seventh-graders Erin Polomik and Gavin Padley, sixth-grader Allison Ferrara and fifth-graders Evie Polomik and Olivia Layne. The team’s coach, Elizabeth Polomik, guided the students but all the work and solutions came from the students.
Each year the Odyssey of the Mind organization releases six original long-term problems that the individual teams choose from to solve. The Thales Academy team selected a classics-based problem involving Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop. Their tasks included creating a performance and a set to exhibit da Vinci’s workshop, a painting and a three-dimensional representation of one of his works. The team was tasked to recreate another of his inventions that debunked during da Vinci’s time but is commonly used in modern times.
Odyssey of the Mind is a program in which students come together to collectively use their unique interests and talents to work and solve a problem. From its inceptionthe program recognizes and uses STEM skills combined with history, art and performance to encourage learning these subjects through the classics.
The Thales team has worked after school and on weekends for seven months and are thrilled to be going to the world finals in May. More information can be found at www.odysseyofthemind.com
4 Responses
Dedication and Hard work pays off…what a great accomplishment. Good luck in Michigan. “Go Thales”
Gavin and Thales team, congratulations. Much success in the World Finals!!
Way to go, Thales team!! You worked hard for this. We are so proud of you!!
Good creative idea Lorna, to take advantage of the newspaper!
And great article.