OOTM Students Prepare for Regionals with Community Demonstration

SKANEATELES, NY (March 7, 2019) – Skaneateles Central Schools students from 12 different teams took part in the Odyssey of the Mind community demonstration on Wednesday evening at State Street Intermediate School.

The demonstration allowed teams to not only display their upcoming programs, but provided a dress rehearsal setting for the upcoming Regional competition on Saturday, March 9.

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition that teaches students how to think divergently by providing open-ended problems that appeal to a wide range of interests.  Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve the problems at hand.

Skaneateles Central School teams in Odyssey of the Mind are open to students in grades 3-12, and consist of seven members per team.

The March 9 regional competition held on the Cayuga-Onondaga County BOCES campus will see Skaneateles students compete against other teams from school districts that comprise the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES department.  Winners from the regional competition will then move on to the New York State competition to be held in Vestal, NY on March 23.

Teams placing first or second in the state level competition will then be invited to take part in the world competition in May at Michigan State University.  Since 1982, sixteen Skaneateles teams have advanced to the world competition, with two first place champions.

The 12 Skaneateles Central School teams (nine from State Street School, two from the Middle School, and one from the High School) were formed in the fall and have been working on their problems since.  Meeting one to two times per week to prepare, solutions for the problems are devised totally by the team members.

Teams are coached by volunteer parents and teachers, but all work is hands-on for kids and hand-off for adults.

“Everything you see here tonight was created by our students,” said OOTM Coordinator, Kelley McQuiggan.  “Our adult coaches are here to guide students, but all of the work from the props to the scripts and everything in between is all created by our students.”

Each year Odyssey of the Mind provides a set of problems for teams to take on.  This year’s problems are titled “Leonardo’s Work Shop,” “OMER to the Rescue, Again!,” “Hide in Plain Sight,” “Opposites Distract,” and “Structure Toss.”

Specific descriptions of the problems can be found online at www.odysseyofthemind.com.

Keep in touch with events and happenings in relation to the Skaneateles Central School District by visiting online at www.skanschools.org or following the district’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Skaneateles.Schools/.