Apr 17, 20162 min read

Wiregrass Ranch High School Team Going to World Finals

Six years ago, our team started a journey with our first Odyssey of the Mind regional competition. Little did we know then how much it would change our lives and turn us into a family. Every year, working months to compete at the regional level, so we could move up to the state level. Each year at state we placed higher and last year we thought we’d gone as far as we could when we placed 3rd in the state. So this season we started the season knowing it would be our last time to compete, because a team member will be graduating this year. So we went into it wanting to have fun and go out celebrating our past years as a team and all of the things that we gained from being OM kids. When we made it to state competition, much to our surprise, we finally achieved what we had always wanted to. We came in 2nd place and have been invited to world competition in Ames, Iowa at the end of May. This will be our last chance to go, as we will not be com peting next year.

There will be teams competing from all over the world. It’s a huge event and an honor to have been invited. In order for the team and the coaches to go, we have to raise $5000 before competition. We are doing fundraisers, such as car washes and yard sales. We are working really hard to be able to have this life experience and we would appreciate any help with reaching out to the community for donations, no matter how small. Any donation would go directly to the travel expenses and lodging for the team.

Odyssey of the Mind, is a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college. Team members work together at length to solve a predefined problem (the long-term problem); and present their solution to the problem at a competition. They must also participate in the spontaneous portion of the competition by generating solutions to a problem they have not seen before. While the long-term problem solution often takes many months to complete and involves various elements of theatrical performance, construction and design, the spontaneous portion occurs the day of the competition.

In the Odyssey of the Mind . . . • Students develop team-building skills by working in groups of as many as seven students per team. • Students learn to examine problems and to identify the real challenge without limiting the possible solutions and their potential success. • The creative-thinking process is nurtured and developed as a problem-solving tool. • Students of all types will find something that will appeal to them. • The fun of participation leads to an elevated interest in regular classroom curricula. • Teachers have a program to further provide students with a well-rounded education.