Glenwood Teams Compete at Odyssey of the Mind World Finals

The three teams from Glenwood Elementary School excelled this past weekend at the 31st annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in East Lansing, Mich. on the campus of Michigan State University. And one team came in second place.

The teams earned the right to attend the Finals by finishing in the top two of the New Jersey state competition held this spring. This is the sixth year Glenwood participated in the competition that emphasizes creativity, spontaneous problem solving and teamwork. The Glenwood students joined over 5,000 other participants representing 12 foreign countries, including China, Japan, South Korea and Mexico, and 34 U.S. states.

Coming in second place, representing the best finish ever by a Glenwood team, was the Return to The Gift of Flight squad led by parent-coach Dave Rosen.  The team had to construct and operate a series of aircraft that completed  a variety of flight plans. The team included Andrew Clark, Jonathan Rosen, Kaye Otake, Mohar Kalra, Maude Weiss and Greer Gora.

Coming in 10th place overall in the most competitive division at the finals (73 teams) was the Food Court squad mentored by Amie Kaiser, Caroline Terrasson and Amy Rosen. The team staged a humorous performance where a food item was accused of being unhealthy and must defend itself among a jury of its food peers. The team included Brendan Weissman, Ryan Dana, William Kaiser, Danny Rosen, Riyam Zaman and Lily Terrasson Honeysett.

Coming in 14th place overall was the  Nature Trail'r squad led by coaches Bert Kaminski and Mike Kanef along with team members Julia Kaminski, Dan Kanef, Tara Shirvaikar, Rachel Prince and Lucia Geng. This team designed, built and drove a human-powered vehicle and camper that embarked on an ocean-themed adventure.