Odyssey Team Takes First, Second at World Championship

Not only did Oakton High's place second on one of their problems in an international competition, they also became world champions.

The team, who has been together since middle school, earned first place at the World Final tournament in a problem that had them build a Rube Goldberg machine, or "present an uncomplicated existing item that is used in a simple and effective way to complete a real life task," according to the prompt.

Their second place effort came in a problem that asked them to build a structure using only balsa wood and glue that folds into itself — and holds as much weight as possible — without coming apart.

For each problem, teams perform a skit to explain their creation and how it solves the problem.

"It’s extremely rare for a team to achieve even one of these accomplishments and almost unheard of for a single team to place so high in two different problems at a single tournament when competing in a field of 36 to 42 teams from all over the world," said Pat O'Brien, who coaches the team along with Paul Sharer and Michelle O'Brien.

The team members are Hannah Nelson, Grace Newman, Jamie O'Brien and Carter Sharer of Oakton High School, Shekhar Chalasani and Kevin Stahl of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and Mary Davis of South Lakes.

"Each team member brought a special talent, and a lot of hard work, that contributed to this success," O'Brien said.