Tournament of Minds

On Friday 20 October, 21 Girton students and three facilitators travelled to Melbourne to compete in TIF, the Tournament of Minds International Final. After a very successful State event, the Senior Arts, Senior STEM and Junior STEM teams were successful in qualifying for the opportunity to represent Victoria. Students travelled by car and train to the Convention Centre. Before the event began, old friends were reunited and new friends were made across all the teams. We swapped state pins and even met students who had travelled from New Zealand for the event!

We then filed into the large auditorium for the opening ceremony. Two students were the MC for the event, including Girton's very own Jacob Markoff from Year 8. We sat in our state groups and heard from inspirational guest speaker Bec Miller. She told an amazing story of completing seven marathons across seven continents in seven days. This is called the World Marathon. Bec spoke of the grit, determination and hard work needed to complete this task. She also spoke of her experience on SAS Australia, where she failed to complete the course. Bec spoke of her lack of preparation as the main reason for her failure, and the lessons she learnt from this. As part of the Opening Ceremony, each state stood and delivered their team chant. Victoria's chant was prepared by Girton. Experience with house chants certainly came in handy!

After lunch, we split into our TOM teams. A scavenger hunt organised by Uplift across the Melbourne CBD in the free tram zone awaited. What could go wrong with 500 kids running around Melbourne on a hot afternoon? At least we had a little bit of local knowledge! Using the Goose Chase app, we got our directions and challenges. We took lots of photos at various locations. For example, we went to Hosier Lane and took a photo in front of our favourite graffiti. The Senior School teams had a slightly longer time to complete their challenge and one of their venues was ArtVo at Docklands. 

After a well-earned ice-cream, we checked into the Space Hotel, our accommodation for the night. After dinner at QV food court and a short movie, we got an early night in our bunk room. Each room had three bunks and we all had a good night's rest once the air conditioners started working. 

Saturday morning, we were up early at 6am for breakfast before boarding the bus to La Trobe Bundoora at 7am. A few kids learnt not to look down while on the bus as they got pretty sick! We then split off into our different teams and went to our allocated lecture theatres, collecting our box of materials and the problem for our three-hour lockdown from 9am to 12pm. The Arts problem was called StreetWise and STEM’s problem was Bringing It Home. After the lockdown, all the teams had lunch together on the lawn, and talked nervously about the problems and solutions we had devised. 

After lunch, we split into our teams and returned to our lecture theatres where we presented to the judges and audience. We all had a great time and were proud of ourselves. After this, we had free time on the lawn including a drumming activity and generally running around or chillaxing. 

A tournament dinner was held for all the participants and support staff, followed by the presentation ceremony. After an hour of dinner, we filed into the Union Hall, which was jam-packed with students and parents. We sat in teams in our state groups and were told the winners of the scavenger hunt from the previous day. Finally, the awards were given for the TOM internationals. The problem writers for each division presented to the teams who were successful. Despite not winning any prizes, all the Girton students had a great time in the true spirit of TOM teamwork and collaboration. We will remember the experience forever and will strive to be a part of it next year. A special mention to Dr Maslanka and Mr Aaron Job, who facilitated the Senior STEM and Junior STEM teams. A humungous thank you to Mrs Bath, the facilitators and parents who helped throughout the year. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Emma Pomeroy

6 Jones