Odyssey Of The Mind

[gab13by13]

Odyssey of the mind is a problem solving competition done by students from kindergarten through college.

My grandson was on a team representing his elementary school that competed against other teams throughout the Pittsburgh school districts. Tons of people there, got the last parking space at 7:30 AM for my grandson's team's 11:40 competition time.

Kids have to do it all, set up the apparatus' they built, give a presentation that performs 4 functions with an 8 minute time limit. One of the functions our team performed was folding a shirt. A girl on the team sneezes, blows a needle into a balloon that drops a tennis ball onto a spring loaded catapult (I have no idea what it was) that flips a piece of cardboard that half a shirt was laying on and folded it perfectly.

Grandson's team finished 2nd place 2.3 points out of first which qualified them for the state tournament. On to Lock Haven, Pa. where there are no hotels.

Fantastic day yesterday watching all of the teams compete, it was wild and refreshing, no politics.

[Scrivener7]

1. So cool! Congratulations to your grandson. Let us know how he does

in the state tournament.

[gab13by13]

5. The state tourney is April 1st.

[scarletlib]

2. This is the type of learning that lights up kid's imagination and creativity.

What every child should have.

[gab13by13]

6. Yes, the kids do it all, they do have a coach and the parents help.

They are given a list of like 12 functions and the kids pick 4 of them that they will build apparatus to perform those 4 functions. They dress up and do a skit, it is super fun.

Sadly my grandson's team coach got Covid, as did his wife, luckily their son tested negative so we were able to give him a ride to the competition. Really sadly, another member of our team did get Covid and couldn't compete, he was heart broken, they have been doing this for months. My grandson volunteered to take on his role.

Once the judge says begin there is no coaching, no waving, no hand gestures. I almost got in trouble for waving at my grandson before the competition started.

[cloudbase]

3. Pre-pandemic,

I'd get drafted as a judge for OM and Science Olympiad. I got to enjoy watching some incredibly intelligent students.

[gab13by13]

4. Yes, the judges got a workout,

There were like 7 judges and they didn't just hold up a score card, they filled out performance sheets.

[CTyankee]

7. That is exciting! "wild and refreshing" it is!

[leftieNanner]

8. My daughter did OM in middle school

Loved it!

They qualified for World's!

Great job by your grandson!

[IbogaProject]

9. There are hotels in Lock Haven, PA

Might be sold out for that weekend but they're there. Hotwire is a decent discount site. They claim non refundable but they are since they hide the actual hotel before you pay. You can cancel it it seems off to you. Plenty of options along rt 80 to allow them a better first day of the competition with less early driving.