By Juliana Pearson (April 19, 2002)

The Falls Church B.I.E Odyssey of the Mind team, consisting mostly of George Mason High School students, narrowly edged competition to emerge as the first place victor in the state competition on Saturday, April 13, earning a coveted spot at the world competition in Boulder, Colorado on May 22-26.

The team members include seniors Jonathan Martin, Galen Messing, James Dzierwa, junior Javier Molina and Pierre Greene, who is a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School. Dr. Betty Martin coaches the team. 

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving competition that involves two different types of problems. Teams begin working on a long-term problem at the beginning of the school year. They are given several options from which to choose, but most problems involve a dramatic presentation that can be no longer than eight minutes, including setup time. The team members are also required to follow other rules specific to the problem.

The day of the competition, the teams are also presented with a short-term spontaneous problem. Spontaneous problems measure the team’s ability to work together and be creative when faced with challenging tasks. Spontaneous questions focus on creative thinking. Sometimes, for example, teams are given limited objects with which to build a structure. Another problem might involve thinking up creative uses for an otherwise mundane object.

Even before they knew they had clenched the victory, the team felt confident about their long-term problem, in which the teams were required to capture the "essence" of a work of literature. George Mason’s team chose Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

The comedic skit included a prologue, middle section and an epilogue. The prologue gave a general overview of the epic novel’s plotline. The middle consisted of the quarterdeck scene, where the monomaniacal captain Ahab explains his plans to his crew aboard his ship, the Pequod. It also included a flashback to when Ahab got his leg bitten off by Moby Dick and the thrilling chase after the white whale at the end of the novel. 

The problem stated that the epilogue had to include a character from a work other than Moby Dick. The team chose Abraham Lincoln, from Walt Whitman’s well-known "Oh Captain, My Captain" to give the closing remarks on Moby Dick’s literary significance. 

"With Lincoln being called a captain by Whitman and Captain Ahab being in our skit, it fit pretty well" said senior James Dzierwa. 

The comedic skit, which was formatted like a VH1 Behind the Music special, also contained two commercials, a team-composed song, and a team-choreographed dance.

In the spontaneous problem, the team members had to make a support structure for a balloon out of Styrofoam cups, straws and paper and see how far they could lift the balloon off the floor. For every inch the balloon was in the air, the team received one point.

"Since we had never done this type of problem before, we were unsure leading up to the awards ceremony about the other teams’ scores related to ours. We were all worried about how spontaneous racked up. It was the only part we weren’t confident about," said Dzierwa.

The competition at states did prove extremely stiff. In fact, when the first place winners were announced, it was not George Mason but Burke’s Lake Braddock Secondary School that rushed to the podium. Then, it was announced that there was a tie. When two Odyssey of the Mind teams have final scores within one point of each other, a tie is declared and both teams advance. It turned out George Mason had edged Lake Braddock by 0.18 points. 

"When they announced we had won, we immediately went from despair to exuberance. We jumped up and down the rest of the way home and for the next two days. We were so excited we even wore our medals to school on Wednesday" said senior Galen Messing.

In February, in order to advance to state competition, the team won the regional title. World Competition, the toughest Odyssey of the Mind contest, will take place on May 22-26 at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Although some members of the team will be required to take IB exams while in Colorado, their exhilaration is undeterred.

"We’re going to Colorado—I know it, but I still can’t believe it in my heart. I won’t believe it until we’re on the plan or maybe when we’re performing," said Pierre Greene.

"It’s awesome. When we win World’s, the team is planning to wear WWF title belts to the metal stand" joked an optimistic Jonathan Martin.

The team members wish to thank their coach, Betty Martin, who has coached her son’s Odyssey of the mind team since his sixth grade year.