Odyssey of the Mind Worlds Competition

We are part of a group called Odyssey Of The Mind (OoTM), a competition where an assigned problem is to be solved, in our case, create a musical about a lesser known historical figure. Four out of the 7 of us participated in this program in 4th and 5th grade.  We really wanted to compete again this year so assembled a group and it became a reality.  This program helps kids to unlock their creative problem-solving sides, but not in a mathematical way. We learn about budgeting, time management, teamwork, acting, and much more just by solving a long-term problem with some fellow colleagues and friends. You are assigned to “solve” the problem and then go to competition in your state. If you win, you have the opportunity to go to the World Finals. Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program, was our inspiration and our musical came to life.  Unfortunately Ada was sick and passed much too young.  We wrote all of our own lyrics to the songs, lines for the characters and created our own set. The biggest part of this project is that it is all completed by our group without any outside assistance from anyone else.  You are able to view our video from performance day on March 19th below. 

After almost 6 months of work, we are proud to say that these seven students from Central Middle School tied for first place in our state for our division, and received an invitation to the World Finals at Iowa State University in late May, 2022! We would love to attend, but our fundraising goal of at least $12,000 for student expenses will not be easy. Our team of seven 8th graders would really like to go to ISU for the World Finals, but we need the help of the community to raise the money needed. We would greatly appreciate your support in helping us raise the funds to go to Iowa for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Thank you for your support!

Written by: Participants of the OoTM Group (Bancker Appleman, Murphy Bennett, Asha Chattoraj, Eden Citron, Daniela Gojani, Elliot Ornstein, Sylvester Pecora, III)