A two-headed bilingual chef, three singing ants and props pedaled around an obstacle course of giant condiments — that's how Nash Elementary School students chose to meet the propulsion challenge Saturday at the annual Odyssey of the Mind competition.
Odyssey of the Mind, a creative problem-solving competition, brought hundreds of students from 19 schools to Amphitheater High School, 125 W. Yavapai Road. Teams competed in five categories.
As part of "The Great Parade" challenge, the Nash Elementary team chose a theme of ants at a picnic, with three students donning shiny red ant costumes. The two-headed bilingual chef narrated and ants burst into song as the float pedaled by.
Odalays Gutierrez, 8, a third-grader, was one half of the chef costume. She spoke in English and Spanish, while her partner, Braden Yokom, 10, a fourth-grader, delivered his lines with an Australian accent.
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"The ants are trying to take all our food," Braden explained about the storyline.
And as for the chef?
"First we just had a chef, but that was too boring, so we made him two-headed," said fourth-grader Isaac Alegria, 10.
Isaac powered the two-tiered float made of wood and a dismembered plastic tricycle. He laid on the bottom tier, alternately steering the handlebars and turning the pedals with his hands, while displays on the top of the float were changed from a grill to a picnic table to an ant hill after each lap.
Theatrics was the key for "The Jungle Bloke" challenge. Participants had to create a performance about someone who talks to animals. La Cima Middle School's production included a forest superhero, wild animals and cloned cannibals.
Seventh-grader Rebecca Roberts, 13, belted out the opening number about her superpower: animal communication.
"It had to include an original song and an original dance," she said. "They judge us on how creatively we do it."
Cross Middle School played for laughs with its presentation on ancient Egypt. Interspersed with jokes about Ra and corny plays on words, the students sang, danced and talked about obelisks.
Brian Edwards, 13, and Kathryn Dyer, 13, both seventh-graders, wrote early drafts of the script.
"We put it together and the entire team edits it," Brian said.
"Each member brings a different talent to it," said parent and team coach Texana Sonnefeld, "but they all have a good sense of humor."
Eleven-year-olds Victoria Heimink, a fifth-grader, and Texana Sonnefeld, a sixth-grader who shares her mother's name, were Egyptian entertainers. Their skirts and headdresses were made of clear plastic straws, yarn and beads. Every year, the girls said, their Odyssey team chooses a different theme for its costumes. This year it was straws. Last year it was duct tape.
Third- and fourth-grade Holaway Elementary School students competing in the "Tech Transfer" competition had to design a device to move props. They chose a construction zone as their theme and their device was a variation on a vacuum cleaner with an extra long hose.
"The last time we went camping, every time I tried to air up my parents' mattress it got stuck to my hand," said Ray Holbrook, 10, of the idea for the device. Though the invention worked in practice, it wasn't as reliable Saturday.
"During the competition, when the suction wasn't working, I thought we could push the items in the area like a golf ball," said William Riley, 9, about his spur-of-the-moment trouble-shooting idea.
All in all, said their coach, Mary Lou Colvin, the presentation was well-executed.
"After years of doing Odyssey of the Mind, this is a great success for transferring," she said. "They got the device to work."
● Results of Saturday's Southern Regional Tournament of the Odyssey of the Mind, as provided by organizers:
1. Grand Canyon School, Grand Canyon.
2. Painted Sky Elementary, Oro Valley.
3. Desert Springs Academy, Tucson.
4. Nash Elementary, Tucson.
5. Walker Elementary, Tucson.
6. Quail Run Elementary, Tucson.
7. Holaway Elementary, Tucson.
8. Hotevilla Bacavi Community School, Hotevilla, Ariz.
1. Magee Middle School, Tucson.
2. Cross Middle School, Tucson.
1. Northland Preparatory Academy, Flagstaff.
1. Walker Elementary, Tucson.
2. Holaway Elementary, Tucson.
3. Keeling Elementary, Tucson.
4. Kellond Elementary, Tucson.
1. Northland Preparatory Academy, Flagstaff.
2. Magee Middle School, Tucson.
1. Ironwood Ridge High School, Tucson.
1. Casas Christian School, Tucson.
2. Quail Run Elementary, Tucson.
3. Nash Elementary, Tucson.
4. Walker Elementary, Tucson.
5. Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson.
6. Holaway Elementary, Tucson.
7. Keeling Elementary, Tucson.
1. Magee Middle School, Tucson.
2. Cross Middle School, Tucson.
3. Corona Foothills Middle School, Corona de Tucson.
4. Old Vail Middle School, Vail.
5. La Cima Middle School, Tucson.
6. Quail Run Elementary, Tucson.
1. Grand Canyon School, Grand Canyon.
1. Manzanita Elementary, Tucson.
2. Holaway Elementary, Tucson.
3. Walker Elementary, Tucson.
1. Sierra Vista Program B, Sierra Vista.
2. Casas Christian School, Tucson.
3. Northland Preparatory Academy, Flagstaff.
4. McCray Junior High, Casa Grande.
1. Sierra Vista Program A, Sierra Vista.
2. Southern Arizona Community Academy, Tucson.
1. Painted Sky Elementary, Oro Valley.
2. Desert Willow Elementary, Vail.
3. Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson.
4. Keeling Elementary, Tucson.
5. Qail Run Elementary, Tucson.
6. Nash Elementary, Tucson.
7. Amerischools Academy, Tucson.
8. Holaway Elementary, Tucson.
9. Copper Creek Elementary, Tucson.
1. Magee Middle School, Tucson.
2. Cross Middle School, Tucson.
3. Cross Middle School, Tucson.
4. La Cima Middle School, Tucson.
1. Flagstaff High, Flagstaff.
2. The Scholars Academy, Quartzsite.
