Tournament of Minds - International Finals
Tournament of Minds International Finals — Challenge Accepted!
In Breaking News….this just landed on Detective Dlugosz's desk…
Your Challenge:
Create: a newsletter article that celebrates the Caningeraba Tournament of Minds International Runners Up Teams incorporating creativity, chaos, courage and copious amounts of gratitude.
Include: 77 teams, lasers, laughter, lollies, lost property, every mode of transport imaginable to mankind, an unnerving number of bird attacks, two performances worthy of a standing ovations at the Opera House and a celebration of spirit that would give the New Year's Eve Fireworks on the Harbour Bridge a run for their money,
Time Limit: 3 hours (plus 4 days interstate, numerous weekend competitions and months of hard work and training sessions).
Materials: Two brilliant teams, three terrific but tired teachers, an army of supporters, a school of wild imaginations, a pride of sheer determination, a giant Nutella dispenser, a suitcase full of crazy socks, a badge or two thousand, a bucket of room keys and lanyards and 14 priceless shiny medals.
Scoring: To be determined on completion of challenge.
Detective Dlugosz Decides: Challenge Accepted!
Sizing up the competition:
Seventy-seven of the top teams from every state and territory in Australia and several international schools (including Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand) gathered at the University of New South Wales in Sydney on the final weekend in October. These teams were selected after being successful winners at their regional, state and in some cases national levels of the competition. Caningeraba competed in both the STEM and Arts divisions representing the state of Queensland.
STEM Super Spies — Operation Laser Beam
The STEM team faced a top-secret task: to act as undercover spies, diverting a laser-beam message using mirrors to save the day. They had to build a working device, come up with a message, which they creatively put their own spin on by incorporating morse code and design a scaled diagram. They then needed to create a performance demonstrating their solution to the problem that included humour and incorporated spy song adaptations. They achieved their mission in style!
Meet the Caningeraba STEMinators turned Secret Spy Squad
Sonny the Scaled Strategist – precisely creating mathematically accurate diagrams.
Levi the Luminous Linguist – scripting spy stories sharper than a laser beam.
Finn the Fact Finder – retrieving data from the deep recesses of his brain.
Walker the Witty Whiz – improvising humour faster than you can say “beam me up"
Zac the Zealous Z-Engineer – building brilliance with steady hands.
Van the Vocal Visionary – managing chaos with calm command.
Raff the Rhythmic Rebel – rewriting song lyrics with secret-agent swagger.
Their creativity, humour and technical skill saw them beam straight to glory, proving that teamwork really does reflect success at every angle.
The Arts Avengers — The Revival Revolution
The Arts team faced a different dilemma: The Arts were dead and it was up to them to revive them! Through a powerful performance combining music, dance, poetry and visual art, they created an emotional, multi-sensory experience that explored why creativity must live on in our curriculum.
Meet the Caningeraba Artastics turned Art Avengers
Finlay the Fearless Facilitator – leadership with logic, love and laughter.
Frankie the Fantastic Fabulist – scripting stories with depth, detail and drama.
Milli the Melodious Maker – voice of an angel, wardrobe of wonders.
Maliha the Magical Muralist – creating colourful connection with visual art and heart
Tahlia the Tender Twirler – choreography that captivates and charms.
Evelyn the Elegant Expressionist – poetry that pulled at every heartstring.
Sophie the Sensational Stylist –.weaving the arts together with flair.
Their evocative poetry, sweet lyrical song, symbolic artwork and beautifully choreographed and executed dance were deeply moving and their heartfelt message in their performance clearly showed the importance of art and creative expression.
The Ultimate Spontaneous Showdown
Both teams also faced their hardest spontaneous challenge yet! It was multi faceted and combined physical elements, creative problem solving and lightning fast teamwork. They didn't just rise to the challenge they leapt and led the way with courage and creativity.
Adventures Beyond the Arena
Of course, TOMs isn't just about thinking creatively, it's also about living creatively! The Caningeraba kids lived it up creatively in Sydney! We travelled on every mode of transport imaginable including planes, ferries, trams and buses, some of these were a first for some students. We explored Sydney icons: Taronga Zoo (the chimpanzees and giraffes stole the show), took selfies with the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, visited Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and the Maritime Museum. Hotel rooms became hubs of laughter and late night team bonding. Breakfast buffets featured pancakes galore, giant Nutella dispensers and more excitement than anyone could handle. Teachers in “crazy socks" held their post as hallway guards by night and kept everyone entertained by day with excursions and hotel hijinks by revelling in the rooftop pool, foosball fun and playground pandemonium to burn the endless energy. Adrenaline coursed through the kids continually and despite the exhaustion when they returned home, memories were made that will never be forgotten.
The Results
When the final scores were announced, both the STEMinator Secret Spies and the Artastic Art Avengers were crowned Runners Up, gaining silver medals and the prestigious Honours Awards. Queensland also shone in Primary Language Literature and High School Social Science. Notably, Caningeraba was the only Queensland state primary school this year to make it to this level of the competition and one of only a small few public schools nationwide (and internationally) that qualified for the international competition. We were the only school (state or private, primary or high school) to have two teams place in the international competition! This is a rare and remarkable achievement and we are so incredibly proud of these amazing kids!
Acknowledgements:
This adventure would not have been possible without the extraordinary support of a number of people.
Spirit of TOM award:
The Spirit of TOM Award is a genuine award given out at the competition. It is one of the most coveted and respected awards at the Tournament of Minds competition and is awarded to teams who embody the spirit of the competition such as tolerance, inclusion, cooperation, patience, resilience, positivity and fair play.
This year our Caningeraba Spirit of TOM award goes to the amazing:-
Karen Hurford
for her unwavering dedication, support and teamwork through the entire Tournament of Minds journey. Karen has gone above and beyond attending countless trainings and competitions in her own time and ensured students had the encouragement and practical support to shine. Her commitment, patience and support perfectly embody the Spirit of TOM – fostering creativity, resilience and a love of learning. I am personally incredibly grateful to have had your support throughout this journey. I simply couldn't have done it without you. We have shared a number of incredible highs and some turbulence, some socks, a room, no sleep, some stressful flapping and not just from the birds, some delirious giggling and now have a bunch of stories that nobody would believe us happened even if we tried to explain it. Thank you doesn't seem to cover it.
An endless list of thank you goes to:
Caningeraba Staff:
Michelle Flynn, Kelly Quilter, Erin Sawley, Jackie Naughton, Jemma Pearl, Renea Christy, Ann Arthur, Lauren Gannon, Maria Mott, Jo Dimmock, Siany Daley and Steve Flynn (I hope I didn't miss anyone) for their time, effort and support at different stages of the competition journey whether it was helping with supervision, preparations, organisation or fundraising efforts. Also, this is a result of every Caningeraba teacher who has taught and inspired 21st-century learning skills to our students over the years.
Caningeraba Students:
Every Caningeraba student that wore Maroon, brought in a gold coin donation, purchased a sausage, tried out for the team or gave a word of encouragement along the way.
Caningeraba Families
Thank you to the teams' parents, grandparents and families who chipped in their time and effort at the fundraisers and for supporting your children to challenge themselves and get out of their comfort zone. Thank you for trusting us with your children. It has been a privilege working with them and they are a credit to you.
Caningeraba Community
Hermann Vorster, The Lions Club - Burleigh, Bunnings Burleigh, Caningeraba P&C and the wider school community for support through fundraising, donations and encouragement.
To everyone:
You made the impossible possible.
Bonus Round— Our ABC Radio Moment!
To top it all off, Zac and Mrs Flynn took the spotlight on ABC Radio, sharing Caningeraba's TOM journey with the listeners. For a moment, our school had its very own celebrities and they represented us with bravery, brilliance, humility and heart.
Final Scoreboard
The TOMs journey was a whirlwind of imagination, intelligence and inspiration. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience our students will never forget and once again put Caningeraba on the map!
Sleep: 0/10
Creativity: 10/10
Adventure: 100/10
Teamwork: 1000/10
Spirit: Off the charts
Memories: Infinite
Detective Dlugosz declares: Challenge Complete!
Bree Dlugosz
Gifted and Talented/Enrichment Co-ordinator