UPDATE - The team is going on to World Competition! Read more.

The Problem: Teams are to create and present a humorous performance about an original tall tale, which will include a hero or heroine who completes an incredible feat. Teams must also include a unique explanation of how things began or came to be and a surprise for the audience. Events in the skit must be accompanied by a visual weather effect that represents an emotion.

Valley Oaks Elementary, 2^nd place

Synopsis of the team’s solution to Problem 5: When John is rejected by his love, Jane, his heart is broken. A magical unicorn (who turns into a horse at one surprising juncture) and a character named Adam with powers to create anything from atoms, try to fix John’s heartache. But things go awry. These mistakes end up helping John save Jane from a high mountain, and she falls in love with him again.

Team Members (all fifth graders) and their roles in the performance:

Sadie Odom: Jane. She had creative ideas, lots of enthusiasm and projects her voice well.

Asha Saha: the narrator. She got to showcase her experience in theater and came up with funny punchlines.

Caitlyn Chen: Played the role of Adam.

Ellie Snoddy: Judy the Judicorn. She was perfect in this role because she is really funny, clever, and makes up good actions on the fly.

Maysoon Newton: John, the main character. Maysoon is good at interacting in humorous ways.

Selah Cho: Played the role of a villager.

Sophia Saldana: Helicopter pilot and a puppeteer.

A moment when they had to improvise during the regional contest: “We made a mistake that I think helped us make to state this year,” said Maysoon. “We accidentally put our mountain set piece at an angle which allowed the judges to see what we were doing backstage, including the Foley stage we were using to make the sound effects behind the scenes.”

What have you learned being part of an OM team? 

Overcoming stage fright and gaining confidence in themselves were things each person on the team learned by being on the OM team.  Seeing the power of cooperation and compromise was also eye-opening for these fifth graders. “What I learned about myself is how I can work with a group,” said Sadie. “I didn’t think I could work with a group as well as I think that I did. I used to just be myself. But doing OM in a group grew stronger friendships and helped me be a better person and be part of a team.”

One of their coaches, Anu Saha, has noticed much improvement in the team’s creativity and production skills from previous years. He said the team is determined to go to the world championship this year before they all disperse to different middle schools next year. “Their unbound creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and teamwork makes them a promising team for the World competition,” said the coach.