Tournament of Minds State Finals
On Saturday 13th September, a bunch of bright and bubbly but a bit bleary eyed students, parents and myself boarded the train before the birds were even chirping for a journey of adventure to QUT Gardens Point in Brisbane for the Tournament of Minds State Finals. Representing our school with passion and determination were three teams in the Social Science, Arts and STEM divisions.
Our amazingly talented students and future potential change makers that competed on the day were:-
Caningeraba So Scientrific: Hannah, Elsie, Hanna, Ace and Carson
Caningeraba Artastics: Frankie, Finlay, Sophie, Tahlia, Maliha, Evelyn and Milli
Caningeraba STEMinators: Raff, Van, Zac, Sonny, Levi and Walker
Each team faced a three hour challenge to solve a complex problem and prepare a 10-minute presentation. The Social Science team explored the functions and ethical implications of artificial intelligence in different contexts. The Arts team crafted a visual and performing arts piece inspired by an artist of their choice. The STEM team engineered a device to sort varying sized seeds and explained the science behind both the device and the seeds.
All of this was achieved without assistance, without devices and with only limited materials making this a true test of creativity, resilience and teamwork. On top of that, each team tackled a spontaneous 10-minute challenge involving a problem and a riddle that pushed them to think quickly and creatively on the spot.
We could not be prouder of the way our students demonstrated teamwork, creativity, problem solving, resilience, leadership and adaptability. These are skills that will stay with them for life, making this an experience they will never forget. We may also never forget some of the humour delivered by our STEM and Social Science team or the heartfelt performance of the Arts team.
The journey doesn't stop here because…drumroll please…
both the STEM and Arts teams were crowned State Champions…
against some incredibly tough competition. They now advance to the International Tournament of Minds Finals in Sydney on 31st October and 1st November. This is an absolutely incredible achievement! Our Social Science team also presented a wonderful solution and presentation but unfortunately didn't place. They should be proud of making it to this level of the competition and for all their efforts throughout the preparations. We, at Caningeraba, are certainly proud of them.
A heartfelt thank you goes to Karen Hurford for her selfless dedication throughout this entire term. She has given up weekends to attend both the regional and state competition and has also sacrificed lunch breaks and attended before and after school hours sessions helping, guiding and supporting our students (and myself!) every step of the way. Karen, your efforts have been nothing short of extraordinary and I am eternally grateful.
Thanks also goes to Kelly Quilter, who stepped in as a room supervisor in Brisbane and to Michelle Flynn, who volunteered as a judge, both of whom gave up their Saturday to ensure our students could compete. Jackie Naughton also made the journey to Brisbane and joined as an audience member in the Arts presentations to show her support.
Special mentions of appreciation must also go to Lauren Gannon, Erin Sawley, Jemma Pearl, Jackie Naughton, Maria Mott, Siany Daley and Renea Christy, who have all been important supporters along the way in various roles which have included providing supervision, support, judging, feedback and training sessions throughout the competition journey. It has been a real team effort.
We can't forget to thank the parents, siblings and family pets of our teams who have supported our students at home by listening to them recite lines, watched them create elaborate designs after raiding the recycling bin, managed emotional rollercoasters, transported them to practices and performances at all different hours. I could see your pride brimming out of you as you watched them shine on stage. It made it all worth it!
Finally, to our students in all three teams, the real prize on Saturday was not the medals, it was the inspiration you have given us all through your Caningeraba courage, curiosity, commitment, confidence, creativity and collaboration.
Mrs Bree Dlugosz
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TOM State Finals – QUT Brisbane – Caningeraba says - Bring it ON!
Thank you Mrs Dlugosz, Mrs Hurford, Mrs Quilter and Principal Mrs Flynn who will be up in Brisbane to facilitate these finals on Saturday. Mrs Dlugosz will be meeting the students at 6.00am at the train station - what a big day!
On Saturday 13th Septembers marks the culmination of months of hard work and creativity, and we are thrilled to be representing the very best of Queensland. The teams in the Arts, STEM and Social Science. The students have an incredible work ethic and commitment in the preparations. From Proserpine to the Gold Coast, teams across our four Queensland regions have risen to the challenge. We at Caningeraba have explored ideas, solved complex problems, and discovered that the true strength of TOM lies not in a single solution, but in the journey of collaboration. Each story told, each design built, and each performance shared reflects the diversity and ingenuity of our students. The Spirit of TOM is alive in every team. It is in the laughter when ideas collide, the determination when challenges feel overwhelming, and the pride when you stand together to present as one. TOM is not just about competition. It is about curiosity, resilience, and the joy of discovering what is possible when young minds come together. Our students will step into the Three Hour Challenge and the Spontaneous Challenge. These are moments to be daring, to listen deeply, and to let your team’s creativity lead the way. In TOMS it not just about what you create, but how you create it. The Spirit of TOM shines brightest in the process. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the judges, Regional Directors, facilitators, and families who make this journey possible, and especially to our teachers led by Mrs Dlugosz. The program heads toward the International Final in Sydney this November, Good luck, Caningeraba teams. The stage is yours. Show us the Spirit of TOM.
Our Caningeraba STEMinators absolutely crushed the competition with their clever creativity. Their challenge was to investigate the four systems on Earth: the lithosphere (land), atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water) and biosphere (living things). They had to develop a scientific theory as to what had caused disunity between the spheres and a way to restore the balance. They needed to design and build an interlocking 3D emblem that represented the Earth's spheres. The spheres had to break apart and then reassemble in a new stronger configuration. They also needed to incorporate scaled diagrams and a video report. They chose costumes and music as their presentation skills. The costumes were clever and reversible and the songs were catchy adaptations of popular songs. They had the judges jiving along to their jingles and the audience in awe of their attention to detail.
The team consisted of Finn, Van, Rafferty, Zac, Levi, Sonny & Walker. They took out first place convincingly with an almost perfect score (only one point deducted) in their long term challenge with the judge personally coming up after the event and congratulating them on how polished they performed and asking for advice on how to get a team to achieve at that level.
Caningeraba So Scientrific
Our Caningeraba Social Science team were as cool as cucumbers and thrived under pressure. Their challenge was to pitch a proposal to the council about a site location for a new community centre and include the ideas and sketches for a layout of the facilities that would be inclusive of multiculturalism, different ages and ability groups. They incorporated the presentation skills of humour and speech styles. They had the judges giggling to their Gen Alpha jokes and the audience applauding for their acting skills.
The team consisted of Hanna, Elsie, Hannah, Emmy, Carson and Ace. This team have shown the most impressive resilience and despite some team members not being able to attend at either the regional or the state competition it is has not dampened the TOMs team spirit of this bunch.
Caningeraba Artastics
Our Caningeraba Artastics were given the challenge to create two collaborative art works for the United Nations Convention that would spread the message of global unity and promote peace. They create both a visual art piece in the form of a collage inspired by their chosen artists of an unknown graffiti artists, Banksy and a performing arts dance piece inspired by the first African American principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland. The team chose the presentation skills of costumes, using fabrics with bold cultural designs and sewing them together. They also used the presentation skills of languages and actually introduced themselves in a variety of languages. They had the judges' jaws dropping with their fashion design skills and audience amazed at their accents and dialects.
The team consisted of Evelyn, Frankie, Finlay, Sophie, Tahlia and Mahlia and Milli. This team delivered a heartwarming moment whilst performing their finale piece; singing beautifully like angels and dancing gracefully like butterflies to, “We are the World" that when you looked into the audience at all the Mums, Dads, teachers and admin members, there was not a dry eye in the house.
All teams are highly ambitious and are already planning their trip to Sydney for the National competition, but we still have this one minor detail…we have to win the State competition in Brisbane first! Wish us luck!
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Our three TOMs teams competed Sunday at TSS in a long term challenge and spontaneous challenge. These students have worked extremely hard over the past 6 weeks to prepare for the competition; giving up lunch break and after school times. The competed in the Arts, STEM and Social Science. I am so proud of all the students for their work ethic and commitment in the preparations and was blown away by how they performed as absolute stars today.
We have had some amazing news…all 3 teams won!!!
This means we are all heading to the state competition. The state competition is in Brisbane at QUT Gardens Point on Saturday 13th September. These students will now work on preparing for the next challenge. Year 5 and 6 teachers more information will follow shortly in relation to scheduling practice times for them. Thank you for being so understanding to date.
The teams were supported by their family members in the audience and we are so grateful to have a supportive Caningeraba community. A special thank you to some amazing teachers Mrs Hurford and Mrs Sawley for their work in the lead up to the competition and for attending today, to Miss Gannon, Mrs Naughton and Miss Pearl for their help in the preparations up to today and to Mrs Flynn, Ms Mott and Mrs Daley who attended to support the students today.
I look forward to working further with all these amazing students!
Mrs B Dlugosz