The Wise School debate teams and Odyssey of the Mind teams have started the spring competition season off with a bang. All three Odyssey of the Mind teams finished second in regionals, and the Wise School debaters took home second place overall in their second tournament of the year.

Wise SchoolWise School Debate

The fifth- and sixth-grade debaters showed off their rhetorical skills in February at The Center for Early Education against six other schools in the Golden Debate League. In a competition that consisted of over 100 debaters and 34 teams, Wise had the second-highest win percentage, along with a second-place overall finish. Here are some highlights:

  • Kaitlyn N. and Maddie won the third place team award for their 4-0 victory
  • Jayden G. and Cooper W. finished eight
  • Daniel F.,  Derek D., and Philip B. finished ninth
  • Rachel D. finished 10th among individual speakers
  • Ashlyn V. finished 12th among individual speakers

The Wildcats will found out their season with their final tournament in May.

Wise School Odyssey of the Mind

This past weekend, our Wise School Odyssey of the Mind teams took a big step toward replicating last year’s remarkable success.

The third, fourth, and fifth grade teams each finished second in their respective regional competitions, and will advance to the state level.

Last year, the three Wildcats teams advanced from regionals to state, national, and ultimately the World Finals held at Iowa State University. All three teams finished in the global top 20.

In Odyssey of the Mind, teams of seven students select a problem, accompanied by a lengthy list of criteria, and develop creative solutions to the problem. The “solution” culminates in a one-of-a-kind performance that showcases not just an answer, but student creativity, teamwork, problem solving skills, artistic abilities, engineering aptitude, costuming preferences, and acting talents.