The Results are In!

I've had several people ask me what Odyssey of the Mind is.  Briefly, it's a problem-solving challenge done by teams wherein they kids have to figure out how to meet this challenge with minimal help from adults. By minimal, I mean really minimal. The adult coach isn't even supposed to fill out their paperwork for them, or make suggestions. It is fully solved by the kids.

Brynne's problem was this one:
Problem 3: Discovered Treasures Divisions I, II, III & IV Teams will create and present an original performance that includes the portrayal of the discovery of two archaeological treasures. One portrayal will be a team-created version of the discovery of an actual historical treasure. The other portrayal will be the team's depiction of a modern sculpture or structure that exists today but is discovered in the future. The performance will include an artistic representation of the two discovered treasures and characters that are part of the discovery teams. Each team has 8 minutes to do their presentation, including set-up. Cost limit: $125 USD. (Meaning, they cannot spend more than that on supplies)

Brynne's team had some unusual challenges. They had a first-time coach. They got a late start. And they had one member of their team who wasn't able to go to the competition. (She also had some challenging people to work with, more so than the other teams from Fort Bragg, in my opinion!).  In their project,  they have Napoleon discovering the Rosetta Stone, and then in the future they have a robot discovering the California Screamin' roller coaster. ;-)

The team, talking with the judges after their presentation.

And Hannah's project.
Problem 2: Return to The Gift of Flight Divisions I, II, & III Teams 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." Cost limit: $145 USD.


Each team also complete a spontaneous project, the details of which cannot be posted online per Odyssey rules (just in case anyone in another region does a google search and stumbles across them!). Brynne's team came in second in their division for Spontaneous, but it didn't lift their score enough to help them place with the overall points.

At the end of the day was the awards assembly. Brynne competed against 6 other teams. Hannah competed agains 2 other teams. The top 2 teams in each division go to the State Competition held March 27.

We had pretty much figured Hannah's team would get second. We saw the other two teams and one was good, the other was terrible. They seemed right in the middle.
We were pretty surprised when they came away with first place! I am not sure how the scoring goes. There are a lot of details that each team needs to meet and they can get automatic point deductions for not doing certain things. It was a pretty interesting day and both girls had a lot of fun - and seem inclined to do it again next year.

State Competition is March 27th, down in the Bay Area. Got to make hotel reservations and make plans for Brynne's birthday, which is the day before. I don't want her to feel short-changed. Plus, Devon will be here, so it should be nice. We'll probably take the whole family this time.