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Virginia Run Team Heads to State Finals

Team of creative fifth and sixth graders will compete in the classics category at the Odyssey of the Mind finals next month.

Who: Division IIA (Grades 6-8) Odyssey of the Mind Team 

School: Virginia Run Elementary School 

Accomplishment: On Saturday, March 5, the team of John Buckhout, Bryan Cutlip, Allie Frye, Brandon Lee, Cammy Smithtro and Libby Wruck won the Virginia Region 13 Tournament in the classics category and will advance to the Virginia State Finals Tournament in April.

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Key to Awesomeness: The Odyssey of the Mind team shined in its interpretation of the classics problem at the Region 13 Tournament earlier this month.  

This year’s long-term classics problem was “Lè Tour Guide,” in which students selected a tour guide from a list of fictional characters and devised a corresponding tour theme. Then, through an eight-minute performance, participants led the audience to three different locations, one of which they had to create themselves.  

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The Virginia Run team chose the Wicked Witch of the West as its tour guide and “Monster/Horror Tour” as its theme. For their original location, the students created Monster Island, a place where benevolent monsters are sent to reclaim their evil tendencies. 

A team must win first place at Regionals to advance to States. Both Virginia Run ES and Rachel Carson MS will advance from Division IIA; though Virginia Run earned the slightly higher score, they technically tied with Rachel Carson, who was less than one point behind. 

Mark Cutlip, the father of Bryan Cutlip, coaches the Virginia Run Odyssey of the Mind team. Sally Richmond, mother of Cammy Smithtro, serves as the assistant coach. Cutlip also led the team to Regional wins in 2007 and 2008 when one of his other children was a student there.

Mark Cutlip believes much of his students’ success this year is a result of the team being a good mix of both creative and straightforward, logical thinkers. “All the team members get along really well, too,” he added.  

The Virginia State Finals Tournament will be held on April 16 in Alexandria. Until then, the Virginia Run team will focus on improving specific areas of its presentation based on scores earned at Regionals.  

“Odyssey of the Mind is a competition, but a friendly competition,” Cutlip said, “My goals for the State competition are the same as [they were] for Regionals - for the team to have fun and do their best. That way they will be winners no matter what place they come in.” 

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