Young minds put to the test in tournament

More than 45 schools fought for the top spot in a performance-driven tournament in Palmerston North.

Tournament of Minds tests pupils’ abilities to create a performance based around subjects such as mathematics and English.

The tournament was held at Ross Intermediate on Saturday, with primary, intermediate and secondary school pupils from Whanganui, Havelock North, Waikanae, Feilding and Palmerston North.

Each team had six weeks to prepare a long-term challenge and they were given another challenge on the day.

Ross intermediate pupil Lucea Bedford, 11, said her team’s longterm challenge was based on language and literature.

The team prepared scenes from books, including Hansel and Gretel, and Twelfth Night.

Bedford said it was great to see other schools’ performances after focusing on their own performance for weeks.

Ross Intermediate pupil Aidan Brown, 11, said his group’s performance was based on winning a trip to Mars by playing Lotto.

All teams had to solve a problem. In the lottery performance the host tried to rig the Lotto so that he could win the trip to Mars.

Warwick Grady, who helps organise the event, said this was the fourth year it had been in Palmerston North.

The Tournament of Minds had grown in popularity over its 30 years in New Zealand, he said.

The tournament is held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with nationals in Wellington on September 23.

The ultimate goal was to get to the finals in Australia, Grady said.

On Saturday, there were six Palmerston North winners from Cornerstone Christian School, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, Palmerston Girls’ High School and Whakarongo School.