Nick was only 3 years old when he made his first invention.  Today he is 10, and just accomplished what very few young scientists and budding engineers have: he and his 6 team members from Longmont took first place in the Odyssey of the Mind regional tournament. But they didn’t stop there; this unlikely team in their first year of competition went on to win the state tournament by a huge margin. They were tasked with the challenge of designing a steerable vehicle that could hold two people, had a self-contained propulsion system and used an originally-created trash retrieval system.

Now these young scholars, ages 7 to 11, are determined to compete in the next level of the competition: the World Finals in May at Iowa State University with 800 teams from 24 countries. To do that they need to raise the $3,000 entry fee, in addition to the costs for lodging, meals, and transportation.

Throughout the problem solving process, Odyssey of the Mind students learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts by assessing the composition and strength of materials, designing vehicles and devices, engineering structures, sets and backdrops, and calculating scores, geometry and physics.

These students are our future engineers, entrepreneurs, paleontologists, chemists, doctors and inventors. As team parents, we have already committed to covering the costs of the coach and chaperones, but we need assistance to make this once-in-a-lifetime experience possible for our kids. Please consider donating to the team’s fundraising effort.  All donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you for making this dream possible!

 

For more information about Odyssey of the Mind, see: https://www.odysseyofthemind.com/whatis.php