Teams representing the Middle School and Otisville Elementary School are representing Minisink Valley at the March 2  New York State Odyssey of the Mind Region 5 competition at Orange/Ulster BOCES.

Middle School

Middle School team members who are solving “Problem 3 Classics…Opening Night Antics” are Giuliana Coppola, Liam Deoragh, Ashton Gibbs, Eisen Jackson, Victoria Papp, Kate Whiting and Zoe Wieman. Coaching them are Venicia Salguero and Corinne Yanis.

“I can’t wait to see all of their hard work come together,” said Coach Yanis. “They have worked so hard at writing their script, building their sets, designing their costumes and practicing the spontaneous problems.”

There is a saying in the theatre that no matter what happens during a performance, the show must go on. For this problem, team will portray the opening night of a play based on a classic story. The opening night performance will not go as planned and will include a set malfunction, unexpected sound effects, and a theater critic. Despite the opening night antics, the show is a success.

“This team should feel very proud of all their hard work and commitment” added Coach Salguero. ” We’ve enjoyed watching them grow as a team and as friends.”

Otisville Elementary

Otisville team members who are solving “Problem 5: Rocking World Detour”  are Joel Cay, Aubrey Cutler, Logan Dushaj, Daniel De Fazio-Schultz, Jillian Mecocci,  Harper Walsh and Ethan Wood. Coaching them is Jenna Colman.

In this problem, the team will create a performance about a rock band on tour. Things get derailed in a very “Odyssey way.” While playing a song, the band is transported into an unexpected location. Band members must figure out how to use music to get them back on their tour. The performance will also include band merchandise and original hairstyles.

“This team has worked incredibly hard  by building props, writing scripts, creating instruments, and practicing over and over,” said Coach Colman. “This rock band is excited and ready for competition on Saturday and will definitely rock!”

Teams of up to seven students compete in five different problems which encompass vehicle, technical, classics, structure and theatrical themes. 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.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. 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.

World finals will be held at Iowa State University in May.