Odyssey of the Mind teams preparing for regional competition at BPHS
Members of Broadalbin-Perth's Odyssey of the Mind teams were at school bright and early Saturday morning to practice for the upcoming Region 21 tournament, which the district will host at B-P Jr./Sr. High School on Saturday, March 8. Teams were challenged to come up with responses or solutions to eight problems on the spot during the program's annual Spontaneous Day.
At every level of competition, Odyssey of the Mind teams must complete a spontaneous problem for part of their score. In contrast to their long-term problem, which teams spend months preparing solutions for, spontaneous problems are ones teams don't know about before the competition day.
"Although teams can't practice for the specific spontaneous problems they'll get at a competition, they can practice universal strategies and improve their ability to work as a team by trying different problems," said Amy Wurz, co-coordinator of B-P's Odyssey of the Mind program and coach of a Division I team. "Spontaneous Day is an opportunity for our teams to practice in a competition-like setting, learn new strategies, and hear feedback they can apply to problems they encounter in the future."
On Jan. 25, the teams practiced with volunteers who are seasoned coaches and judges. Problems challenged teams to make and decorate branches for a fake tree; construct a route for a ball to travel out and back from its starting point; and take turns creating a team drawing starting with a circle.
The teams will continue to practice spontaneous problems and prepare their solution to one of six long-term problems in advance of the Region 21 tournament on March 8 at BPHS. The top-scoring teams in each problem and division will advance to the New York State Finals on Saturday, April 5 at the New York State Fairgrounds.
- elementary
- high school