 | | | Wagner Ranch fourth-graders win second place in Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. From left, bottom row: Drew Alameda, Connor Volk, Stella Schmitt, Gianna Campbell; top row: Ryan Gibson, Anya Parikh, Elise Nguyen. Photo Praveen Singh | | | | | | Wagner Ranch Elementary fourth-graders (now rising to fifth grade) placed second in the World Finals of Odyssey of the Mind held at Iowa State University May 28, competing against 35 teams. Refining their ideas in Part I - Long Term Problem Solving and Part II - Spontaneous Problem Solving, from their earlier wins this year in San Francisco Bay Regionals and Northern California State competitions, led to this top result. Winning team members are Drew Alameda, Gianna Campbell, Ryan Gibson, Elise Nguyen, Anya Parikh, Stella Schmitt, and Connor Volk, and coaches Leslie Volk and Maggie Wang, who guided the innovation and spontaneous team problem solving.
This team, nearly the youngest competitors, were also the highest placing out of all the competing Northern California teams in the World Finals, which included elementary to college level students. Creativity, scene assembly, and problem solving is all done by the team, who spent over 100 group work hours since October 2021.
Other Lamorinda team winners at Worlds:
Moraga Rotary Team A - 6th
Stanley Middle School - 8th
Sustainable Lafayette - 11th
Moraga Rotary Team B - 24th |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA