09 October 2024 Lincoln University helping send young minds to international competition

If you have been asked to buy a chocolate bar or a raffle ticket recently, you may have spoken to one of the sharpest young minds in Lincoln.

A group of Lincoln Primary School pupils have qualified for the Tournament of Minds International Final in Sydney, and Lincoln University is helping them get there.

Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving programme which challenges young minds with open ended challenges from four different divisions. The teams need to exercise a diverse range of skills, time management and discipline to succeed.

The team of team of seven boys, aged 9-12, proved themselves as regional champions in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) primary division in August, then continued their reign of victory at the national competition last month.

The tournament continues on the internation stage in November and Lincoln University has sponsored the team to help them pay for the trip.

Lincoln Primary School Deputy Principal Lara Taylor said the boys were very excited to have made the international competition and were “frantically trying to fundraise”.

They were now spending their school holidays knocking on doors selling chocolate bars, holding raffles and looking for sponsors from local businesses.

They had designed themselves a logo and were making team shirts with the sponsors’ names to wear proudly to the international competition.

“A huge thank you to Lincoln University and to the Lincoln community for helping make this a reality.”