Odyssey of the Mind team headed to world finals competition

But the team must raise money to pay for the trip to Maryland, where the competition will be held

For the first time ever, a Voorheesville Central School District Odyssey of the Mind team is headed to the world finals competition.

The elementary school’s fifth-grade team earned a spot in the 29th annual competition by finishing second in the New York State competition, which was held Saturday, March 29, at Binghamton University.

The world finals competition will be held May 31 – June 3 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. Last year, the competition attracted teams from China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Germany, Poland, Canada and other countries.

In Voorheesville, Lydia Parker and her five teammates could hardly be more excited about their success.

“We are just amazed we have the opportunity to go to the world finals. It’s almost unbelievable,” Parker said.

Voorheesville sent two teams to the state competition - the fifth-grade team and another that included students in fourth to eighth grade. The fifth-grade team’s six members are Parker, Matt Feller, Ben Mackay, Braeden Morrison, Sarah Murray and Alex Relyea.

Team members aren't sure just yet if they'll be able to make it to the competition. They have to raise the money to pay for the trip. They will hold a bake sale at the elementary school's science fair on Thursday, April 3. Their parents plan to meet soon to try to come up with some ideas.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international, problem-solving competition for students in kindergarten through college. Students use 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.

The team staged a performance that included Greek muses as characters who inspire others to create works of art. Team members were surprised by the successful showing, especially because teammate Wolfie Gehring couldn’t make it to the competition. As Vincent Van Gogh, Gehring had a large speaking role in the performance, and teammate Ben Mackay had to just two weeks to learn all the lines.

“It was nerve-wracking because I felt that everyone expected me to be as good as he was in the regionals,” Mackay said. “But it wasn’t so bad, because I already knew the lines from practicing.”

Gehring hasn’t been on the team as long as some other members, but teammates say he is an important part of their success, especially when it comes to the spontaneous portion of competition. That’s when teams are given just a minute or two to develop answers to questions, and Gehring is a quick thinker, said Sarah Mackay.

“I think we worked together a little more than we might have if Wolfie had been there,” Mackay said.

Voorheesville students have a long history of success in the Odyssey competition, and the program attracts dozens of students each year. This year, more than 60 students joined to form nine teams.

Several members of the fifth-grade team felt that doing so well at the state competition justified their years of efforts.

“We usually do well at the regional competitions,” said Alex Relyea. “Once we finished our performance, we watched some of the other teams, and we knew we were going to do well because some of them didn’t even follow the rules.”

But the competition isn’t all about winning. Relyea and Murray have become close friends during the time they have worked together, and Murray said that might be the best part of it all.