Many hours of hard work paid off as the STEM Institute ‘s Odyssey of the Mind (OM) team earned an invitation to the World Finals at Michigan State University. The STEM Institute OM team members (L-R) Ruby Riegert, Alyssa Janke, Sophie Schmidt, Jared Ott, Mason McGrath, Miles Dennis, and Nathan Ott are shown here after their performance at State on March 18, 2017, where they took first place in Division 2 and won the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award. The OM team’s problem, “It’s Time, Omer,” was to create and present an original performance about time travelers searching for the inspiration behind great works of art. The travelers go back in time — twice into the past and once into the future. The team is then charged with explaining how Omer inspires two classical artists as well as a team-created artist from the future. The OM team’s performance was required to include how the three works of art positively impact the world, a visual and audible effect that indicated when time travel was occurring, two re-creations of the classical works of art selected from a list, and a team-created work of art. For their efforts, the team also was awarded the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award. This award represents the essence of the Odyssey of the Mind program. The Ranatra Fusca Award is bestowed upon the team or individuals who display tremendous creativity at competition. This award serves as an incentive for risk-taking and out-of-the-box thinking for Odyssey participants. The students will represent Fond du Lac and the state of Wisconsin at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan on May 23 through May 28. At the World Finals, they will compete against future world leaders from over 33 countries.
