| | Published April 26th, 2023
| FWSF Odyssey of the Mind team heading to World Finals
| | | Submitted by Seema Jain |  | | Photo provided |
A team of seven middle school girls from Lamorinda recently placed second in the Odyssey of the Mind Norcal State Tournament and is now on the way to the next level of competition: the World Finals.?
Odyssey of the Mind is a global competition that challenges teams of students to develop creative solutions to complex problems without any adult help. Team members are Anshika Salgia, Avery O'Connor, Chiara Poletto, Elle Johnson, Emma Howe, Laurel Reader-Taatjes, and Narayani Chandra. The team is sponsored by the Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF), and coaches are Nicole Reader, Isaac Reader-Taatjes, and Diego Aguilar. This is the team's first year working together, and they are proud and excited to have accomplished so much in their very first season.
In Odyssey of the Mind, teams of students choose one of five possible problems, then work together for months to create a "solution" that takes the form of an eight-minute skit presented to the judges at the tournament. One of the most unique aspects of Odyssey of the Mind is that all aspects of the solution -?script, costumes, props, scenery, technical elements, and more - must be entirely devised and created by the students. "No outside assistance" is the phrase to remember!?
The FWSF team tackled a problem called "The Walls of Troy," which required that they create an original story with the theme of using creativity to overcome obstacles. Their solution has ties to Greek mythology (including a character from Homer's Iliad, a Greek chorus, and an animated statue from the Odyssey), but the team gave it their own creative twist.
The Odyssey of the Mind World Finals will take place in late May at Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan. |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA