Richland One teams qualify for Odyssey of the Mind World Finals

Five teams from three Richland One schools have qualified for the World Finals of the Odyssey of the Mind (OM) competition based upon their performance in the South Carolina OM competition held March 27 at W.J. Keenan High School.

In its first year of participation, Brockman Elementary's team placed second in the Fantastic Art, Division I. Team members are Carrie Chalfant, Paul Cuffe, Lawrence Gressette, Nicolas Haddad, Hannah Hunter, Lisea Lark and Abby McConahay. Erica Rice, Karen Roach and Babbette Kissmam coached them.

Lewis Greenview Elementary's "Transformers" team placed first in Envirover, Division I. Team members are Johnathan Robinson, Jasmine Oglesby, Sierra Youngblood, Janell Smith, T'Keilah Holmes and Matthew Dicks. Beverly Holmes and Johnetta Riley were the team's coaches.

Lewis Greenview's "Six Egyptian Queens" team, coached by Elayne Pelzer and Rhonda Brown, won second place in Featured Creature-Division 1 and also received the Renatra Fusca Award, the highest OM award given for outstanding creativity. Team members are Debra Riley, Kihana Pelzer, Ternesha Pelzer, Shambre Brown, Basha Gaines and Tiera Smith.

Lewis Greenview's primary team, "Cool Wildcats of Lewis Greenview," won the award for outstanding performance in the Rewind with Humor category. Coached by Joyce Law and Toni Law, team members include Destiny Tolbert, Maya Gilligard, Jessica Curry, Taylor Neal, Jasmine Myers, Emmanuel Washington and DeMonte Jacobs.

Another Lewis Greenview team, "Artmaters," placed third in Classics: Fantastic Arts, Division 1. Team members include Shakier Terry, Countess Robinson, Kayla Washington, Velisa Buckson, Ashley Steward, Kendra Robinson and Christopher Cochran.

W.G. Sanders' "7 Homies" team placed third in the Envirover category. Team members are Kendrick Houser, Kendrick Rapley, Whitney Tucker, Jasmine Lee, Sade Jennings, Shanteisha Mitchell and Cassandra Rawlinson.

Another Sanders team, "The 14 Karat Gold," placed second in the Feature category, won a Ranatra Fusca Award and an Omer Award. The members of that team are Nichelle Torres, LeAndra Middleton, Tashiana Lee, Brittani Goodwin, Chemise Wallace and Pinquetta Brown.

Sanders' "PG13" team won first place in Fantastic Art and a Ranatra Fusca Award. Members of that team include Maria McClain, Breana Wilson, Megan Wright, Tilah Jordan, Rashida Addison and Crystal Hampton.

All team placing first or second in a category have qualified for and been invited to compete in the World Finals on May 29 in Baltimore.