OptiMINDS Challenge 2025

Three Middle School student teams competed in the Brisbane West Regional OptiMINDS Challenge last week. This year's theme was Integrity.

For the Long Term Challenge, the teams only had five lessons to create and present a dramatic response of up to 10 minutes in a 3m x 3m space. Their submission included budgeting forms as there were limits on what could be used and how much money could be spent on props. They also had to respond to a spontaneous challenge (unseen) on the topic of “A Curious Discovery.” The teams had only 10 minutes to interpret and analyse the challenge and then collaborate and respond to how it would forever change the world.

The long term challenge scenarios were as follows:

In Science and Engineering, a utopian society begins to fracture - the collective became disconnected. This ‘modular’ society could no longer achieve great things through ‘diversity, integrity, or unity’. Something is now needed to reconnect its citizens. An aspiring engineer believes that they have the answer. The team had to conceptualise and build a modular device that, when its parts came together, movement, sound and light were triggered as a ‘celebration of unity’ and thus integrity – “the state of being whole and undivided.” Team 2 used Lego and Arduino. Team 1 used 3D printing.

The Media and Communication team had to create an Integrity Museum in the year 2125, when people no longer have faith in the integrity of virtual museums. They know too well that it is nearly impossible to verify what is shared and seen online. The curators carefully select seven digital files that provide a ‘complete and honest picture’ of what life was like in 2025. Together, the artefacts present a valuable lesson for people living in 2125. Our team was clever in their use of humour and implicit interpretations. For example, TikTok isn’t a clock; it doesn’t tell time but just wastes time! Wise words.

Team members are:

TEAM 1 – SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Elodie Bishop (7)

Sophie Coubrough (7)

Alyssa Cull (7)

Amarli Edwards (7)

Eden Skilton (7)

TEAM 2 – SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Sienna Bailey (8)

Hunter Betts-Murphy (8)

Domitri Fidirikkos (9)

Abhishek Praveen (9)

TEAM 3 – MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS

Ivy Walsh (7)

Margaret French (7)

Zoe Kinnane (7)

Emmileen Garland (7)

When asked questions about their OptiMINDS experience, students shared the following valuable lessons:

• While you may face obstacles along the way, persevering gets you there in the end.
• Never give up!
• No matter what challenges came up, we kept going and just adapted.
• We made the most of what we had and made it work for us.
• Even though it didn’t end up the way we planned, it was great to hear other people’s ideas and have fun.

Team 2 celebrating their device working first time! (Many thanks to Eden Skilton, Year 7 for his technical aptitude).

Sharee Verdon

G.A.T.E. Coordinator