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Local SF Bay Area teams competed at the yearly SF Bay Regional Odyssey of the Mind Competition Feb. 28 at Concord High School. Odyssey of the Mind, in its 41st year, started at a college in Pennsylvania and is the second largest worldwide competition which includes children - second only to the Junior Olympics. Teams must solve one of five different problems, (1) vehicle, (2) robotic, (3) classics; (4) balsa wood, or (5) drama. Teams compete against other teams in their age division - elementary, middle school, high school or college.

Teams placing first or second in their region are able to compete at the state level and the top two state teams are invited to compete at the world competition. The local teams did very well, with 31 teams advancing to the state competition (Lafayette Elementary 1, OIS 2, Orinda Rotary 1, Glorietta 2, Wagner 1, Stanley 2, Moraga Rotary 5, Burton Valley 2, Happy Valley 1).

This year, a rare award, the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award for outstanding creativity, was bestowed upon the OIS 6th Grade (Balsa Wood) Team consisting of Ryan Chan, Polly Efimova, Janie Luo, Augie Martinez, Will Riley, Parker Hjortsvang, and Vinny Yu, coached by Janine Ogando for their 18 gram structure which was able to dissemble, do the limbo, resemble and still hold a significant amount of weight (800+lbs).

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