Published: May 05, 2008 09:10 am            

School team in need of funds to attend World Finals

The South Elementary Odyssey of the Mind team has won second place in the state competition and have thus qualified for World Finals to be held at the University of Maryland, College Park Campus May 31-June 3. It is a testament to the ability, talent, creativity and dedication of these seven students, who have, in their first ever attempt of this competition, triumphed over seasoned teams that traveled from all over Kentucky.

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

Teams choose one of five competitive problems to solve; some are technical in nature, while others are artistic or performance-oriented.

Teams work on their solutions throughout the school year and present them in levels of competition in the spring. The first level of competition is the regional tournament. Teams that place here are invited to compete at the state level. At state, the top two winners in each division are then invited to participate in the annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. Here, they will compete with countries from around the world including Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

If you are interested in discovering more information about the program, competitions, and the founder of OM can be found at the Web site www.odysseyofthemind.com.

Odyssey of the Mind is a competitive program that nurtures creativity, an often overlooked element in the growth and development of many students. Through Odyssey of the Mind, students learn valuable skills that will last a lifetime such as: learning to cooperate and respect the ideas of others, evaluate ideas and make decisions on their own, work within a budget and manage money, search for answers because there is often more than one way to solve a problem, and value the decision making process as much as the end result.

The Odyssey of the Mind team members are Tyler Mills, Makayla Beechum, Connor Hicks, Alyssa Bishop, Matthew Helm, Hope Couch and Rachel Logan. These students bravely accepted the challenge to become the first Odyssey of the Mind team to represent Corbin Independent Schools. Well aware that their chances for success this first year were few, they nevertheless, spent endless hours before and after school developing the solution to their problem and presentation for competition. These students, coaches and parents were willing to sacrifice both time and money in order to establish a foundation for future Corbin Redhound teams.

They have been rewarded not only by a second place finish in the state competition, but also by receiving an invitation to the World Finals. The total cost for our trip is approximately $5,697 and we have only one week to raise the funds. The students are very excited about this opportunity and it is such an honor for our school system, however, the only way that we will be able to attend is through financial support from our community. We invite you to help make this trip possible for our children through your financial support.

Mrs. Kim Stewart and

Mrs. Tonya Proffitt,

Odyssey of the Mind Coaches

        

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