Help Grayson Cluster Students Bring Home a World Title

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving competition and some local students have proven their ability to compete at the highest level. Two teams from and one from took top honors at the regional level before going on to do the same at the state levels. All three teams now have a shot at bringing home the world title.

GES teams took first and second in their divisions at state and the CMS team won state. With these wins, the teams now go on to compete in the Odyssey of the Mind World Championship on May 23 at the Iowa State University in Aimes, Iowa. They will be competing against more than 50 teams from across the U.S. and the globe including Germany, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Singapore.

In order to compete for the world title, each team has to raise about $10,000 toward the cost of the trip as well as entry fees. All the students are frantically fundraising themselves, but they are hoping the community will chip in too. It is an honor to make it this far and they are looking forward to having a shot at bringing the world title home to Grayson.

“It is just like soccer or baseball,” said Donna Ward, teacher and coordinator of the program at GES. “The students have to dedicate hours of time and commitment to solving the problem. They have to use creativity and teamwork to learn the lines in their skits. They also have to make all their own props and costumes.”

Ward said students put in hours, as do the parents, to commit to reaching the highest level in the competition. The CMS team and the 3^rd grade team from GES are competing in the “Odyssey Angels” category. In this category, teams have to change a negative they encounter into a positive. The fifth-grade GES team is competing in the Ooh-Motional Vehicle category. They had to design, build and drive a vehicle that will encounter three different situations that prompt a different emotion for each encounter. This team came up with a very different dog for their problem. More information can be found at www.odysseyofthemind.com.

Anyone interested in making contributions to GES teams can email Donna Ward at donna_ward@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

For contributions to the CMS team, contact Sharon Wilkens at sharonwilkens4@gmail.com