An initiative dedicated to putting young minds to the test has got a taste of what St Matthews Catholic School has to offer.
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Tournament of Minds is a student lead problem-solving initiative that has become quite a tradition for St Matthews students for a long standing period of approximately 15 years.
Not just anyone can participate in the initiative as an individual has to acquire a very specific set of qualities in order to compete.
These include clear articulation, audience engagement, collaborative skills, ability to think interdependently, improvisation, create and make, as well as divergent, creative and innovative thinking skills.
This year St Matthews entered a primary and secondary team that was ready to give it their all after four months of training, supervised by Michael Bourke and Jackie Hawes.
Primary School teacher at St Matthews and facilitator for the teams Kylie Chacon, said the Tournament of Minds is of extreme benefit for students who participate.
“It’s a really good opportunity and experience for all students to expand their minds and step out of comfort zones,” Ms Chacon said.
The teams are made up of students with a diverse range of personalities to fulfil the positions that create a successful team, as Tournament of Minds can only be won by the commitment and teamwork of all participating students.
“This is an extremely important initiative because it gives students the ability to develop 21st Century skills,” Ms Chacon said.
The primary team, Jim, Connor, Dylan, Matilda, Sienna, Chido and Eliza who decided to participate in the Social Sciences challenge with ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ at focus, received positive feedback with the grade of ‘excellent’ in many areas of the chosen discipline.
Jessica, Susie, Tristan, Nakia and Lara belonging to the secondary team, were awarded overall winners for the Secondary Arts Division for their challenge to perform a musical that was appealing to all ages, and will progress to the State Tournament.
The final product of both teams was presented to a panel of judges at Charles Sturt University.