Teams representing the Middle School and Otisville Elementary School will compete at the Feb. 28 New York State Odyssey of the Mind Region 5 competition at Orange-Ulster BOCES in Goshen.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. The Odyssey of the Mind program encourages divergent thinking as teams use creativity and teamwork to solve unique problems emphasizing teamwork, budgeting, time management, public speaking and other important life skills.
Middle School
The Middle School is tackling Problem 1/“Off the Rails.”
For this problem, the team becomes conductors and engineers as they continue to design, build and operate a train vehicle.
As the train travels the course it will have a new car attached at each stop.
Along the route, it will encounter challenges that make the train travel in different ways.
After all of its cargo is picked up, the items will be unloaded and assembled into a work of art.
The performance will also include the use of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, a humorous conductor character and a villain character that tries to prevent the train from getting to its destination.
Team members are Ashton Gibbs, Christian Hines, Jemma Marsala, Quinn Murphy,Victoria Papp and Alicia Suen with Coach Madison Wyman.
Otisville Elementary
Otisville is also putting together a performance for Problem 5/“Taller Tales of John Jivery.”
The team will create and present a humorous performance about an original tall tale.
The tale will include a team-created hero or heroine that performs an incredible feat, a unique explanation of how something began or came to be and a surprise for the audience.
Each event will be accompanied by a visual weather effect that represents an emotion.
Team members are Christian Barth, Evan Jackson, Charlotte Kelly, Tristen Lapertosa, Callan Mark, Malina Myrie with Coach Jenna Colman.
Teams of up to seven students compete in five different problems which encompass vehicle, technical, classics, structure and theatrical. Each team receives its problem in early October and then proceeds to build, tape, glue, paint and "test run" props and mechanisms to prepare the best solution to the challenge. The tasks include a skit or performance that is an original creation.
Outside construction assistance from parents or adults is prohibited, and a spending limit is imposed on teams. In addition to the assigned problem, Odyssey of the Mind competitors also have the opportunity to "flex" their intellectual skills by solving a spontaneous problem which involves quick and logical thinking.
Teams do not have any prior knowledge about the spontaneous question and must present a creative solution on the spot. Students from K-12 participate in the regional tournament according to their team's division, which is delineated by age/grade level.
Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and world level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.
Those who qualify will compete in the New York State competition at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse in mid-March. World finals will be held at Iowa State University in May.