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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Mt. Lebanon Schools Compete in “Odyssey of the Mind” Regional Tournament

On March 7, almost 200 Mt. Lebanon students competed in the Western Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind Tournament, held in Moon Township. Twenty-seven teams of students from Washington, Markham, Foster, Hoover, Lincoln and Howe Elementary Schools, Mellon and Jefferson Middle Schools and the High School participated in Odyssey, competing against teams from school districts throughout western PA. A team from Markham, two teams from Mellon and two from the High School earned the honor of proceeding to the State Finals to be held in Williamsport on April 18.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international creative problem solving competition for students, kindergarten through college. Participants present creative solutions to problems ranging from designing and building small vehicles, constructing balsa wood structures, and humorous and dramatic presentations of team-created plays and music. This year, students created and performed stories about the lost labors of Hercules, presented the origins of “new” superstitions, created self-mobilizing mechanical creatures, complex vehicles and balsa-wood structures.

Mt. Lebanon first entered the Odyssey of the Mind program seven years ago, with two teams from Washington and Howe Elementary Schools. This year, Mt. Lebanon had more teams competing at the tournament than any other school district. In Mt. Lebanon, Odyssey of the Mind is an out-of-school program open to all children, sponsored by school PTA’s in the elementary and middle schools, in which a group of 5-7 children and a volunteer parent coach practice creative spontaneous and strategic thinking throughout the winter. Each March, teams present their creative-solutions to panels of judges, who evaluate the teams on their creative achievements. Odyssey teams organize in October of each school year. Interested parents and students should look for sign-up notices in September. For more information, contact your school’s Odyssey coordinator, or John Herman at 412-561-4549.





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