Charter school sends Odyssey of the Mind team to finals

The John W. Rex Charter Elementary School, in only its third year of existence, has earned academic excellence courtesy of its Odyssey of the Mind team.

The downtown Oklahoma City school sent seven of its fourth-graders to compete last month in the Odyssey of the Mind world finals at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

About 20,000 students and supporters from across the nation and the world showed off their creativity and critical thinking skills.

Alicia Currin-Moore, a parent and one of the sponsors, said the team and its robot project, “Odda-Bot,” excelled, placing 34th out of 800 teams.

“I’m extremely proud that they achieved what they did, especially for being the first time this (OM) was offered,” Head of School Joe Pierce said.

It started in February when the team placed second at the regional competition in Edmond. From there it was state competition in March at Owasso. They ended up second again, this time to West Field Elementary, of Edmond. Still, taking second qualified the students to make the 15-hour van ride to East Lansing.

Currin-Moore said the team eventually was able to get the “Odd-a-Bot” to clap, sing, pray and argue.

Team members were Daniel Daley, Keayonna Foreman, K’Vion Berry, Mason Currin-Moore, Aaron Stinson, Trinity Smith and Maxine Hall. They said they were thrilled for the opportunity to represent Oklahoma.

“The pin trading was awesome,” Daniel said. The students proudly laid out their pin collections, obtained by trading with other teams, which are now prized possessions.

There were also the opening and awards ceremonies at Michigan State.

“Where Michigan State plays basketball is where the ceremonies were held,” Mason said. “It was amazing.”

K’Vion especially enjoyed the laser shows at the ceremony.

‘Enjoyed this’

The work required a commitment from the students and parents. A lot of time was spent outside the classroom to achieve the goal. It was worth it, Keayonna said. “Before this, I didn’t do too much on the weekends,” she said. “I enjoyed this.”

At times it could be a challenge. The “odd-abot” didn’t work at first. That wasn’t going to stop them from continuing the work.

K’Vion said his team had support from a teen Odyssey of the Mind team at Piedmont. “They kept telling us to keep trying,” he said.

Daniel said the team was exposed to other cultures at the world meet.

Mason said their international buddy team was from Korea. “They spoke English,” he said. “I think they were a little shy.”

The students already are excited about next year’s competition. “I want to do it again,” Mason said. His teammates shared his enthusiasm in wanting to learn and compete once more on the academic stage.

The John W. Rex Charter Elementary School opened in August 2014 with grades prekindergarten through third. It’s added a grade since then and will have grades prekindergarten to fifth in the fall. Pierce said about 450 students are enrolled.