Happy Valley - 2006 Odyssey of the Mind

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition for students from K-12 to college. Through solving open-ended problems, students develop creative-thinking skills that can be applied to real-life situations. Both Happy Valley teams took 1st place in their respective State level competitions and will be joining teams from throughout the U.S. and more than 20 other countries. "Jungle Bloke" and "Ancient Egypt" teams of the world, you are hereby put on notice: we're coming to Iowa.

We have 14 kids from 12 families, 4 coaches and equipment to transport and house for almost a week in Ames, Iowa. Each family is going to be paying about a minimum of $1,200 per child plus the coaches' expenses. We've set our fund raising goal at $20,000 to help defray the costs of this endeavor. On top of that are mounting expenses for transport and housing of supporting parents and siblings, it's not difficult to imagine this becoming an expensive proposition!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Onward To Iowa

This blog's function as a fund raising venue is nearing the end. The Jungle Bloke and Ancient Egypt teams have been practicing and preparing for the world finals, it's been a very busy homestretch. For the coming week, we're going to start updating from Ames, Iowa. Our returns from the lemonade stands and Baja Fresh events have dwindled. The Rotary's Concert at the Rez event on Sunday got rained out, which was a sore disappointment (as if we didn't have enough rain earlier in the spring time). But in the win column, we've hit the $6053 mark on our fund raising thermometer and for that we'd like to applaud the Happy Valley families, the Parents Club, our extended families, friends from the softball/baseball fields, professional colleagues, local merchants, Trans-Pak, the families from the Contra Costa JCC and so many more who have pitched in to help us get the teams to Iowa. Of course, it's not too late to make a tax deductible donation, we're anticipating some last minute sponsorship support from Amarin Thai Restaurant and Aladino's Pizza (and getting hungry just thinking about it!). However, we're going to close the book on this soon, so if you're inclined to donate, please act fast!

Yesterday, the first Happy Valley Odyssey of the Mind team members arrived in Iowa. Today, most of the rest are making the journey; tomorrow, the remaining team members will arrive. Who says there's nothing to do in Ames? The points of interest there include:

  • Brunnier Art Museum
  • Farm House Museum
  • Reiman Gardens
Woo hoo! We're gonna have a blast! But seriously folks, we expect the memories acquired this week will be ones that will stay with the Odyssey of the Mind team members for years to come. Their accomplishments are a testament and a tribute to the quality of our school's teachers and staff as well as the community's commitment to providing an enriched educational experience. (you can applaud this part, too)

Our next post will be from Iowa, stay tuned!

           

posted by Omer @ 10:47 AM

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