The Mount St. Mary Academy Odyssey of the Mind team placed 2nd at the 2024 World Finals, besting 36 of the top teams in the world to earn the runner-up spot. This year’s event took place May 20-24 at Iowa State University in Ames. The school’s team regularly advances to and performs well at the final competition each year. This is the second time in history it has placed 2nd. The team was also named runner-up two years ago at the 2022 World Finals.
The OM team’s division in the 2024 World Finals included a total of 37 teams from 17 states and six countries. In solving this year’s problem, Classics…Opening Night Antics, the team chose to portray the opening night of a play based on the swashbuckling adventure story Treasure Island. Per the problem’s stipulations, the skit, carefully crafted over months of hard work since the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, featured a set malfunction, unexpected sound effect, and a team-created antic. This all leaves the cast scrambling to adapt in front of an audience that included a theater critic modeled after a character from the original novel. In addition to performing the skit, the OM team also competed in an improvisational component at the event.
“We reached this height once before in 2022, but something about this year really does feel different,” said Monica Madey ’06, MSM English teacher and one of the team’s coaches. “No one does music and costumes like this group. They also work exceptionally well as a team in Spontaneous problem-solving. We are so blessed to get to coach such a wonderful team!”
Mount St. Mary Academy has participated in the international creative problem-solving program promoting teamwork, STEM and the arts for more than 20 years. This marks the 13th straight year the school’s OM team has advanced to the world competition. It earned a spot in the 2024 World Finals after placing 1st in its division at the State Tournament in April.
Watch the moment the team is named the 2nd place finisher during this year’s World Finals Award Ceremony at https://youtu.be/Iq7ELY59UlM. (Scroll to 1:32:50 in the video.)
Congratulations to members of our 2023-2024 OM team for their amazing talent and for once again excelling at this year’s final competition: Caroline Cash ’25, Maya Johnson ’25, Sydney Kersey ’26, Annabelle Owen ’25, Harper Peairson ’27, Bee Posey ’26 and Clara Principe ’24, as well as managers Lizzy Darnold ’24 and Tessa Hendon ’26. The team is coached by Ms. Madey; Ilia Bailey McNeal ’06, MSM English teacher; and Dr. Deborah Baldwin, MSM Academy board member.
