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!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Opening Ceremonies

Guest blogger: Claire Phillips

Last night our team was part of a very inspiring and special experience. Along with members of the over 700 other teams who are here, representing 14 countries, we opened the 2006 Odyssey of the Mind world finals. The opening ceremonies were held at the gigantic Hilton Coliseum, part of the Iowa Center, and had the feel of a rock concert. The kids were seated with their teams, grouped by state, with a few from each state coming into the coliseum on a state by state basis. Especially exciting to see were the international competitiors, including teams from Cameroon, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Poland, Germany, Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and Hong Kong. One obviously unscripted moment occurred during the medley of national anthems when the audience sang in unison the final anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. As part of the speeches from the podium, our new international friends taught us key OM terms in their native tongues. Special recognition was given to Dr. Sam Micklus, founder of Odyssey of the Mind, here to watch over the 27th World Final.

       

posted by Omer @ 5:03 PM

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