North Penn Wins State 'Odyssey of the Mind' Championship

LANSDALE, PA – The North Penn High School Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) team has won the Pennsylvania state championships and will head to the world finals.

OoTm is a creative problem-solving program. Teams of seven students select a problem, create a solution and present their solution in a regional tournament. Teams that place in the regional competition advance to States and those who place at States advance to World Finals.

At this ultimate competition, over 800 teams from across the United States and around the globe compete to be crowned World Champions. 20 teams will be awarded this honor.

Last September, seven students came together to form an OotM team representing North Penn High School. Two of these students were members of the NPHS team that advanced to the 2015 World Finals and placed second behind a team from Gdansk, Poland. Together with their new teammates, they chose to solve a problem in the “Classics” category.

This problem challenged the team to write a skit about an Aesop’s fable. The moral of the story then goes viral throughout a community.

Their story is set in the Middle Ages and includes a cast of animal characters with names like Leonardo DaFinchi (a finch), Crocpernicus (a crocodile), Giraffeal (a giraffe), Michaelantelope (an antelope) and Galelion (a lion).

The philosophy behind the Odyssey of the Mind program is one of teamwork and creativity but mainly, self-reliance. Students work together without “outside assistance” from anyone else, including adult coaches who mentor the team but do not contribute to the team’s solution.

The NPHS OotM team worked virtually nonstop from September through March to create unique costumes and ingenious props. Their recycled costume materials include tea bags, VHS tapes, socks, cereal bags, water bottles and CDs.

Among their props are a working fountain and a marimba instrument, both built from scratch, and a backdrop which incorporates the use of thermo chromatic paint to create scenery illusions.

Their uniquely creative approach, as well as their dedication and hard work, were rewarded with first place finishes at the regional and state levels. At regionals, the team was also awarded the coveted Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award. In May, they will travel from Lansdale, Pennsylvania to Ames, Iowa to compete at the 2016 Odyssey of the Mind World Finals held at Iowa State University.

In recent years, the OotM team representing NPHS has established a tradition of excellence. The current team is working hard to maintain this tradition, the district said.

For more information about North Penn Odyssey of the Mind, visit the district program website here http://www.npenn.org/Domain/61.