LAMORINDA WEEKLY | High school Odyssey of the Mind team sponsored by Moraga Rotary advances to World competition


From left: Sol Dente (Campo), Claire Damiano (Campo), Finley Reid (Acalanes), Nina Damiano (Campo), Lily Thomas (Acalanes) and Valerie Yarve (Campo). They are all juniors. Photo provided

The junior class team of Campolindo and Acalanes students who compete in Odyssey of the Mind under the Moraga Rotary name, their sponsor, will advance from the NorCal State Tournament to World Championships at Michigan State University to be held May 24-27. The team coached by Kathi Dente won first place and also came in first in the Spontaneous portion of the competition.

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving program for K-12 kids that engages students in their learning, by encouraging them to think creatively to solve one of five problems of the year. Teams made up of 5-7 members have to solve their selected problem (anything from building vehicles to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics) and present their solution to the problem to judges in an 8-minute skit.

Since 2005, Moraga Rotary Club has sponsored the international Odyssey of the Mind team competitions, held every year beginning in September and completing in May at the World Odyssey Championships at Michigan State University. This year, Moraga Rotary sponsored four teams from grades 3 through 11, who competed in February at the Bay Regional Tournament, and the High School team advanced to the NorCal State Tournament in March. The teams were supported by Student Leaders Grace Franklin and Shiraz Usmani.

The Classics problem this year is about "The Illiad" and the team had to have a Trojan Horse, a wall, and a character from "The Illiad." The team did a play on Greece by setting their long-term problem in a "Greasy" Diner and singing parodies from the musical "Grease." A Cheese Burger and Onion Rings are trying to escape "the mouth" that is trying to eat them by getting to the vegetable drawer where the mouth never eats. To get there they have to disguise themselves as a HORSE radish with the help of "A-TEA-NA" (a play on Athena). There is also a Greek chorus made up of singing milkshakes.

Moraga Rotary is a community service organization under Rotary International that meets every Tuesday at Noon at La Finestra Ristorante. Guests and visitors are always welcome.