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March 7, 2019
Seven Odyssey of the Mind teams advance to states
Seven Upper St. Clair teams qualified to compete at the Pennsylvania Odyssey State Tournament, which will be held on April 6, 2019, in the Pocono Mountain School District. The teams advancing to the Pennsylvania Odyssey State Tournament represent Odyssey divisions 1 (elementary), 2 (middle school) and 3 (high school) and include:
First Place- Boyce Middle School – Technical Problem, Division 1: Ellie Simons, Collin Rosenberg, Addie Young, Lily Simons, Kurt Baran, Lauren Ginsburg, Geneva Eisinger; Coaches: Nate Eisinger, Artie Baran and Simon Rosenberg
- Baker Elementary School – Performance Problem, Division 1: Grace McDonough, Catalina Ramirez, Emme Ciccolella, Molly Biedrzycki, Max Urban, Milena Casciani, Franco Liberatore; Coach: Katie Talarico
- Boyce Middle School – Performance Problem, Division 2: Esha Lathia, Ben Murtough, Anastasia Gzikowski, John Tripodes, Ben Seewald, Owen Mucho, Peter Markovitz; Coaches: Meridith Markovitz, Stacey Seewald and Laura Murtough
- USCHS – Performance Problem, Division 3: Eric Wang, Constantine Tripodes, Victoria Cuba, Sammie Seewald, Brianna Lin, Max Murtough, Joseph Markovitz; Coaches: Laura Murtough, Stacey Seewald and Meridith Markovitz
Second Place
- Fort Couch Middle School – Vehicle Problem, Division 2: Harrison Barker, Anushka Sharma, George Abdel-Messih, Lindsay Ross, Neha Sriram, Ben Ross, Michael Conte; Coaches: Stephanie Ross and Neelum Sharma
- Fort Couch Middle School – Classics Problem, Division 2: Alex Sun, Cameron Coller, Cameron Weber, Rosemary Ramirez, Reese Copenhaver, Josilyn Seftchick, Jack Lowden; Coaches: Rachel Lowden and Katie Talarico
- USCHS – Classics Problem, Division 3: Anoushka Sinha, Gracie Lowden, Jacob Conte, Isabella Putorti, Christina Conte, Maggie Lowden; Coaches: Rachel Lowden and Beatrice Conte
The Western Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind Regional Tournament took place on Saturday, March 2, at Keystone Oaks Middle School/High School. In total, 14 Upper St. Clair teams competed including seven elementary teams, five middle school teams and two high school teams.
“Each team worked from October through March to creatively solve one of five problems from Odyssey's STEAM-based program, which requires that students work independently with no outside assistance from teachers, parents or friends,” Laura Murtough, coach and Odyssey of the Mind program co-coordinator, said. “At competition, they are judged on creativity and risk-taking in their solutions and held to a modest budget between $125 and $145.”
For more information, visit the Upper St. Clair Odyssey of the Mind website (www.uscootm.com) and following the organization on Facebook.
In 2018, two Upper St. Clair teams – one from Boyce Middle School and one from Upper St. Clair High School – qualified to compete in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, which were held in May at Iowa State University. Both teams finished in the top 10 of their divisions.
