Members of the Aspen Elementaryb School Odyssey of the Mind that competed in the World Competition include top row, from left, Sophia Pacheco, Alea Kretz and Lacey Portillos and bottom row, from left, Alexander Wilson, Arshia Chalayil and Gianna Rolfe. Photo Courtesy LAPS
LAPS NEWS
The Aspen Elementary School Odyssey of the Mind team (the Omers) placed 21st in the World Competition, competing against 76 teams. The team qualified for the competition after finishing first at the Colorado state contest.
Coached by teachers Victoria Daley and Matt Allen, the team includes sixth graders Alea Kretz, Sophia Pacheco, and Lacey Portillos, fifth graders Arshia Chalayil and Alexander Wilson, and fourth grader Gianna Rolfe.
The team tackled the long term problem, Virtual Odyssey, starring the Big Bad Wolf, Mario and Luigi. The process includes composing a script, developing the virtual reality world and real-world settings and creating special effects.
“Our team was moved to the middle school division because we have 6th graders on our team,” explained Coach Daley. “I am so proud of these students. They placed 21st against teams of 6th, 7th and 8th graders.”
Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition for students and community group members of all ages. For the second year in a row, the world competition was held virtually.
As noted on its website, Odyssey of the Mind has been the world’s greatest creative problem-solving program since its beginning, in 1978. What started as a project for students in a single industrial design class has grown into a world-wide program that has reached multiple generations, allowing students to learn, develop, and employ skills related to teamwork, resource management, designing and making, divergent thinking, and so much more. Odyssey of the Mind provides students with a place to learn today’s creative problem-solving skills while having fun.
View their entry here: https://youtu.be/Oj8CVyXcHu4.
Photo caption: Members of the Aspen Odyssey of the Mind include (top, left to right) Sophia Pacheco, Alea Kretz and Lacey Portillos; (bottom, left to right) Alexander Wilson, Arshia Chalayil and Gianna Rolfe.