Ten Lamorinda Odyssey of the Mind Teams Advance to State Competition
Submitted by Michelle Regan and Beverley Sopak
Orinda Rotary Odyssey of the Mind team, from left: Bradley Wu, Nicholas Kim, Sarah Inouye, Stephanie Wu, Sullivan Jordan, Caroline Kim, Leah Sopak, and coach Michael Kim. Photos provided
The winner's circle was filled with Lamorinda Odyssey of the Mind teams, each comprised of up to seven student members who competed for top honors at the San Francisco Bay Region competition March 1. Teams competed in age-defined divisions ranging from kindergarten through college with the top two teams from each division going on to the April 5 state competition. The program promotes creative thinking where student groups develop and implement all problem solutions without outside assistance from adults. Each year there are five different long-term project competitions to choose from ranging from technical to artistic or performance based.
Burton Valley Elementary school placed first in their division for the "Driver's Test" competition. The student team designed and built a vehicle that achieved specific project requirements. The team also developed an eight minute performance incorporating their vehicle and team members to demonstrate the vehicle's capabilities and the team's creativity. The competition included a 'spontaneous' challenge where team members completed timed out-of-the box thinking challenges.
The BVE team's long-term project theme is 'A Carrot's Driver's Test' where a not-so-prepared carrot embarks on his driver's test and is unexpectedly thrown into a situation where he must rescue stranded baby carrots and later rescue the bunny-abducted absent minded professor who thoughtlessly introduced bunnies into the world run by carrots. No worries here! Our student driver carrot successfully passed his driver's test and managed to save the baby carrots as well as the professor!
The Orinda Rotary Odyssey of the Mind team advanced to the state tournament by taking second place at the regionals for "The Stackable Structure" problem. This will be the team's third year competing at State. Last year this team won State and advanced to the World tournament.
Springhill Elementary School's Odyssey of the Mind team also competed in "The World's First Arts Festival" primary competition (Grades K-2) and came home with medals. As part of the long-term problem competition the team created an eight minute performance with costumes and a story line that fit the "World's First Arts Festival" problem theme. Characters included cavemen and cavewomen as well as a security guard- after all, everyone knows that all art museums have a security guard! The group also created their own 'Cave Man' song and prehistoric caveman painting backdrops.
Other top winners included:
Moraga Rotary Club A (Div II) "It's How We Rule" - first place
Orinda Intermediate School Red (Div II) "Seeing is Believing" - first place
Lafayette Rotary Club (Div III) "Seeing is Believing" - first place
Moraga Rotary Club B (Div III) "The Not-So-Haunted House" - first place
Happy Valley Elementary School, Lafayette (Div I) "Seeing is Believing" - second place
Orinda Intermediate School Green (Div II) "Seeing is Believing" - second place
Moraga Rotary Club A (Div III) "Seeing is Believing" - second place
The state competition will take place on April 5 at Heritage High School in Brentwood. To learn more about Odyssey of the Mind student programs and events, go to www.odysseyofthemind.com.
Burton Valley Elementary Odyssey of the Mind Division 1 (fourth and fifth grade) team, from left: Kaitlin Srinivasan, Charlie Schofield, Nathanial McManus, Peter Husch, Matthew Brock-Utne, William McGlothlen, and Cole Regan.
Springhill Elementary Odyssey of the Mind Primary Division team. Top row, from left: Ella del Rosario, Chase Caicedo, Joey Martin, Chase Regan and Danny Martin; bottom row: Ellie Hutson and Kyla Goertzen. Not shown: coaches Joy Martin and Shawn Goertzen.
Burton Valley Elementary school placed first in their division for the "Driver's Test" competition. The student team designed and built a vehicle that achieved specific project requirements. The team also developed an eight minute performance incorporating their vehicle and team members to demonstrate the vehicle's capabilities and the team's creativity. The competition included a 'spontaneous' challenge where team members completed timed out-of-the box thinking challenges. 
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA