MacKillop College, Port Macquarie, Places First at the Tournament of the Minds International Final

MacKillop College Port Macquarie Tournament of Minds STEM team are Regional, State and now International Champions.

Recently, a team of students from MacKillop College, Port Macquarie, won the secondary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) discipline of the Tournament of Minds (TOM) International Final. 

Tournament of the Minds is a team-based problem-solving program designed to enhance a diverse range of skills within a challenging and competitive environment.

Students formed a team at the beginning of Term 3, working tirelessly through multiple lockdowns, during and after school hours and over many lunchtimes to complete all challenges to an exceptional standard. 

The team progressed through the competition, winning the Mid North Coast and Tablelands Regional Championships and State Championships. 

Like many events this year, the competition was affected by COVID-19. One week after coming out of a regional lockdown, the competition started on 16 October, with the competition held online over Zoom rather than in person. The students found competing over Zoom to be challenging but believe this helped them to become more flexible and adaptive in their thinking.

The organisers of the event gave high praise to the MacKillop team for their standard of work throughout all levels of the competition.

‘This was a wonderful achievement for the College, a journey from Regional to State to International level with a beautiful group of hardworking and talented students who showed true grit and determination,’ said Enrichment and High Potential Learning Coordinator, Mandy Palin.

This competition is not just about intellectual excellence and creativity but also about learning to work in teams. To be successful the students need to learn teamwork, leadership skills, organisational skills, the importance of valuing diversity and respect. 

‘I loved participating! I had the most awesome teammates, and Mrs Palin was incredible! We all brought different strengths to the team that really helped us. It was really different practising and competing on Zoom but this probably helped us to be more flexible and to adapt our thinking and to think outside the box,’ said Georgia.

‘Doing TOM with this group of people has been an amazing experience. I joined TOM to have fun and experience something different. Our team worked so well together and were able to bring energy and fun into trying times.’ said Elliot. 

The MacKillop team acknowledged the excitement of winning a world-renowned academic competition and the important part that their mentor Mrs Palin played in their success.