St. Mary’s Academy’s eighth grade Odyssey of the Mind team competed in the state finals at SUNY Binghamton last weekend after winning first place in the Division II balsa wood engineering regional competition last month. The St. Mary’s team scored a shared third place in the spontaneous problem solving portion of the state competition. The winning eighth grade team includes Libby Cass, Maggie Murdock and Erin Murdock of Stephentown, Anthony Chapones, Alyssa Giordano and Alex LaBarge of Hoosick Falls and Nate Winchester of Cambridge, NY.
The team was coached by teachers Amanda Patten and Reena Jones and parent Sue Cass. Team members helped Ms. Patten win a Region IV Omer Award for her dedication to the Odyssey program.
Odyssey of the Mind founder Sam Micklus was on hand to watch the New York State venue of competition he founded over 30 years ago. St. Mary’s team members had the opportunity to meet and chat with Dr. Micklus as he signed their team T-shirts and cheered them on.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international problem solving competition. The Odyssey approach teaches participants to “think outside the box” and work collaboratively, skills that are critical to success in the 21st century workforce.