Monday, March 29, 2010

Congratulations to teams from Glendaal and Glen-Worden who competed in the states-level Odyssey of the Mind competition at Binghamton State University on Saturday, March 27.

Here's the link to the state Odyssey of the Mind web site showing the results for all teams.

At an Odyssey of the Mind competition, students must develop unique and original solutions to specific problems, based on criteria set by the Odyssey guidelines.

Teams that placed first or second in the weekend states competition advance to the worlds-level Odyssey competition in Michigan in May.

The Glendaal team placed 5th out of 15 teams from across New York state in the Division 1 Return to the Gift of Flight competition with a cumulative score of 278.75 points out of 350 maximum points.

Their problem stated that the team: "will make and operate a series of aircraft that will complete a variety of flight plans. The flight plans include flying straight, making a target spin, traveling slowly, dropping something into a target, touching down and taking off, and a mass launch of multiple aircraft. The aircraft in the solution will be made of a variety of materials and will have a variety of power sources. The testing of the aircraft will be presented in a team-created performance that will include a character that serves as a creative 'air traffic controller.'"

Representing Glendaal at states were:
Brandon Clark
Daniel Clune
Anthony DiCarlo
Caitlin Estes
Jacob Greski
Carter Hempstead
Richard "R.J." Paskiewicz

All the students are in grade 5

The coaches were Tammy Boyd, Janet Mallozzi and Mark Hempstead.

The Glen-Worden team placed 11th out of 21 teams from across the state in the Division 1 Food Court competition with a cumulative score of 276.51 out of 350 maximum points.

Their problem stated they had to: "create and present a humorous performance where a food item is accused of being unhealthy and must defend itself among its food peers. All characters are food items and will include "the accused," "the accuser," a jury that is not portrayed by team members, and additional team-created characters. The jury will reveal its decision to the audience. They created and presented a humorous performance in which a food items is accused of being unhealthy and must defend itself among its food peers."

Representing Glen-Worden at states were:
Libby Hanlon
Alyssa McKenna
Ryan Neal
Juliana Piccirillo
Olivia Powhida
Erin Zeman

All students are in grade 5 except Ryan, who is in grade 4.

The coaches were Christine DeCarlo and Gregg Zeman.

Suzanne Meeker is the Scotia-Glenville School District Odyssey organizer and coordinator.

On March 6, 13 Scotia-Glenville teams participated in the regional Odyssey competition. The Glendaal team mentioned above placed 1st out of four teams solving the Return to the Gift of Flight problem and the Glen-Worden team mentioned above placed 1st out of 19 teams solving the Food Court problem.