35 students represented the Mohonasen Central School District on Saturday, March 2 in the Region 7 Odyssey of the Mind Tournament at Shenendahowa East High School.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.
Mohonasen High School
Mohonasen High School competed in Opposites Distract and won second place and a trip to the state championships, with an opportunity to earn a place at the World Finals! The team was coached by Pete Countryman and Brittany Countryman, and team members include Veronica Audette, Jocelyn Countryman, Tessa Degener, Cam Gagnon, Keegan Jarbis, Josh Mastromarchi, and Alexandra Skoda.
Bradt School
Bradt’s was represented by two teams. Coach Stacy MacTurk’s group included Harper MacTurk, Jordan Savignano, Calum Mahan and Brianna DeFilippo. Coach Morgan Beach’s group included Alex Beach, Jacob Taylor, Ellie Cabrera Bruce, Vienna Dolan, William Dolan and William Rollins. The students competed in the Museum Makers Primary competition and each team received three-star results from the judges.
Pinewood School
Pinewood was represented by two teams. Coach Morgan Beach’s team competed for the first time on the Balsa Wood problem, Structure Toss. They earned fourth place overall, and second place in the spontaneousportion of the competition. Team members include Daniel Abbott, Aiden Beach, April Burke, and Parker Pulenskey.
Coach Alison LeClerc’s team competed in Leonardo’s Workshop. The team earned third place overall and second place on their skit. Brenna MacTurk was given a prestigious OMER award (named for the organization’s mascot) for her work as the assistant coach for one of the Bradt teams! Team members include Zach Bowers, Michael Collura, Katelyn Leclerc, Brenna MacTurk, Lucy Musto, Jack Pacelli, and Mason Varga.
Draper Middle School
Draper Middle School’s team competed in Opposites Distract and placed third, with a first place score for their spontaneous portion. The team was coached by Jason Varga and Tim Macturk, and the team members are Tim Abbott, Kira Bernard, Hannah Crowther, Sarah Leclerc, Grace MacTurk, Caleb Pacelli, and Julia Varga.
The NYSOMA NY State Championships are March 23 in Binghamton, and the Odyssey World Finals will be May 22-25 at Michigan State University.