Notre Dame Academy Students Place 2nd at Odyssey of the Mind World Finals

Notre Dame Academy is pleased to announce that the school’s team, “ARTchitecture: The Musical,” placed 2^nd in its division and 1^st in the spontaneous problem solving portion at the Odyssey of the Mind 2013 World Finals, held May 22-25 at Michigan State University. The team, which included third and fifth graders Gabriel and Maxi Brogi, Theodor Chifan, Carter Randolfi, Nicolas Rose and Amanda and Melissa Valencia, placed 2^nd among 65 teams from around the world. NDA parents Isabel Brogi and Leticia Valencia served as the team coaches. 

 Odyssey of the Mind, an international educational program that challenges students to work in groups to creatively solve a range of problems using team-building skills, is open to students from kindergarten to college. More than 800 teams from countries including Canada, China, Germany and Japan participated in the 2013 World Finals.

 “There is a wonderful alignment between Notre Dame Academy’s IB Primary Years Programme and Odyssey of the Mind,” said Debra Orr, head of Notre Dame Academy. “The students were exposed to opportunities in the classroom that helped prepare them for the competition. The collaboration between the students, parent coaches and the school is something to be celebrated.”

 The “ARTchitecture: The Musical” team spent eight months preparing for the 2013 World Finals. Preparation included the development of original and entertaining solutions for long-term problems, as well as intense training for the spontaneous problem solving competition. The students were in charge of imagining and creating every piece of the performance, including the script, music and costumes, and the coaches provided encouragement and taught important skills along the way.  

 “Our favorite part of Worlds was pin trading,” said NDA 5^th grade team member Gabriel Brogi. “We got to meet and trade pins with students from all over the world!”

Notre Dame Academy is a Marist and International Baccalaureate World School serving over 520 students in Pre-K3 through 8^th grades.  Accredited by SAIS/AdvancED and the International Baccalaureate Organization for the Primary Years Programme, the school is located at 4635 River Green Parkway in Duluth, Georgia.  Families interested in Notre Dame Academy may find more information at www.ndacademy.org.