Tournament of Minds international final comes to Canberra

The chase is part of the international final of the Tournament of Minds competition where teams from around Australia and New Zealand will compete for the top prize.

On Saturday, teams go to the Australian National University and receive two final challenges: one five-minute spontaneous task and one three-hour problem they will solve through a 10-minute drama presentation.

To those part of the Tournament of Minds as participants, teachers or judges and volunteers, the interschool competition evokes warm memories of teamwork, creativity and fun.

Canberra High School has two teams going through to the final who are hoping to make the most of the home ground advantage.

The teams have already made it through two rounds of competitions to make it into the final eight teams to represent the ACT.

Year 8 student Sanvi Valsangikar said her team, in the social sciences section, had worked very well together so far.

"I think personally, we've all been very creative. We've been able to think of really different and new ideas to be able to form plays," Sanvi said.

Year 10 student Emma Clark, who is in the language and literature team, is taking part for a fourth year and has previously made it to the finals.

"From my experience, the teams from the other states, they've been through to the finals as well so they're big competition," Emma said.

She said it was fun to work with students from other year groups and see the ideas come together: "You need to be patient and to work as a team. You need to be able to speak what you think so you can input your own ideas into the team. And you need to be comfortable performing in front of other people."

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Canberra High School teacher Alysha Nebelung said she looked forward to the Tournament of Minds finals every year.

She said some of the more reserved students were able to come out of their shells and extend their critical and creative thinking throughout the program.

"You don't want to present something that's just base level and predictable," she said.

"It's really about, how can you approach this outside of the box? And I guess the irony is they're performing in a three by three metre square."

Responsibility for hosting the final usually rotates around the states and territories, but it has been hosted online in the past two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tournament of Minds ACT director Eliza Aston hoped the chance to host would boost participation and expose the visitors to what Canberra has to offer.

"Our slogan for this year is unlock your potential in the ACT. And we're doing all of Friday's activities around the national triangle, looking at all the different institutes and what is available to people in Canberra," Mrs Aston said.

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"We're really promoting what can you do if you come and move to Canberra to all of these students"

She said the competition, which began over 30 years ago, had achieved longevity because it was student-led and appealed to all types of students from public and private schools.

"The really anxious kids that don't think that they'll be able to stand up and do a performance, they stand up in a full lecture theatre at ANU and present in front of everyone and they're amazing. So that kind of achievement, they remember that forever," she said.

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