The Opti-MINDS State finals were held on 22 and 23 October at The University of Queensland, with three of our teams representing the School. We are delighted to announce that one team was awarded first place, and another took home Honours.
The teams were given three hours to respond to a challenge, write a script depicting their solution, build costumes and props, and rehearse. During this time, they were also given a short spontaneous creative challenge to solve in 10 minutes. They all found out just how short three hours can be!
One of our Media Teams—Emily Jiang (9B), Stephanie Ku (9B), Ajin Kyoung (9H), Lucy Grant-Uhr (9R), Annabelle Fu(9R), and Sophie Lillis (9L)—took out their division. They hold the State title for their division.
Another Media Team—Isabelle Chiang (9H), Lauren Liang (9L), Amelia Loye (9H), Eowyn Wong (9G), and Remy Kalinin (8H)—captured the attention of many as they presented and communicated their pre-prepared IDEA at the Youth Forum on Saturday afternoon. In the words of one viewer, the team was described as ‘presenting in the spirit of Opti-MINDS’ and ‘that they should continue to, think, create and communicate.’
In the Language Literature category, we were represented by Keira Crouch (10G), Dorothy Rae (10G), Levi Gao (10G), Alyssa Godinho (10B), Lottie Levy (10G), and Tessa Lloyd (10O), who did an amazing job. They received Honours in their division.
All students embodied what we have come to expect from Grammar girls. With little to no input from teachers, they rose to the challenge, used their creativity, and built a team they could rely on. Girls worked independently and with a clear purpose in mind, and at the end of the day, produced a piece of work that we could all be proud of. Congratulations Opti-MINDS teams.
Thank you to the staff who accompanied the girls and me over the competition weekend: Ms Simone Roche; Ms Matilda Walsh; Ms Natalie Holden; and Mrs Maggie Loye.
Dr Ruth Burnett
Learning Support Teacher
