FIRST PLACE!! And my desperate plea for help!

These fabulous Odyssey of the Mind middle school kids won FIRST PLACE for their problem and age division in the North Carolina OM State Competition!!! This means that they can advance to the World Competition of Odyssey of the Mind - this is in Lansing, Michigan at the end May.

They are such rock stars!  I can't post a video of their performance until after the World Competition, but I can post photos of this amazing group of homeschoolers.  Here are the kids in their "Zombies in Candyland" costumes. 

Here's what they had to do:  This team had a "vehicle" problem.  They had to design 3 different vehicles, each with a different propulsion system.  These vehicles have to run through simple obstacle courses a few times, and each time carry a piece of an animal.  The vehicles have to travel a certain distance to deliver the pieces to the same spot.  The animal then has to be assembled and *then* the animal has to do a trick.
The kids have to make up a skit to build a story around vehicles, putting an animal together, etc. and the skit can't be over 8 minutes long.
Do you think you could do that?  Do you think you could have done that when you were 12 years old??  These kids aren't allowed to have any outside assistance.  The role of coaches is not to give them ideas or help make anything, but to help them stay focused and to make (seemingly neverending) trips to the hardware store for more supplies!  They are limited to a $100-ish budget.
These kids couldn't decide between a Candyland theme or a Zombie theme, so they combined the two - setting a zombie attack on Candyland.
No wonder they won first place - they combined the construction and creative propulsion of 3 vehicles, fabulous kid-made costumes and props, an original (and hilarious) song that actually had judges wiping laughter tears from their faces, and a magical zombie-fighting dog named Tootsie.  Those other teams didn't really have a chance ;)

Of course the kids are so thrilled and the parents are excited for them!  The reality of this, though is that nearly all OM teams are from schools.  They have funding!  Since we are homeschoolers, we do not have a school to back us up on getting these kids to Michigan.  WE NEED HELP!!

We have to raise $5,000 in 19 days!  That's right - Five Thousand Dollars, People!!!  We are having bake sales, selling hot lunches at our homeschool co-op, doing 2 yard sales, the kids are being hired out to do yard work & fence staining, but that is not nearly enough.  We need donations and business sponsors.

It's so easy to donate any amount, just by clicking here:
http://ahcom.weebly.com/index.html

Are you an Asheville business that would like to sponsor these amazing kids in their journey to the World Odyssey of the Mind competition?  You can find that information here:
http://ahcom.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/1/2/4812269/world2013omsponsorsheet2.pdf

You can also follow the team's progress by "liking" them on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AshevilleHomeschoolOM

Read even more about them in our recent press release:
http://www.mountainx.com/article/49399/Asheville-Homestead-Co-Op-will-send-kids-team-to-Odyssey-of-the-Mind-World-Finals

Thank you so much for any support and helping get the word out about these great kids!

- Julie