Boyce team advances to Odyssey World Finals
April 10, 2023
To qualify, the team placed second at the Pennsylvania State Finals on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at Lock Haven University. Students and their coaches will travel to Michigan State University for the World Finals, which is set for May 24-27, 2023.
At the State Finals event, teams from across Pennsylvania competed by division in one of five chosen problems: vehicle, technical, classics, balsa and performance. Eight teams from Upper St. Clair competed at the event, including five teams from division one (elementary), three from division two (middle school) and two from division three (high school).
The team from Boyce Middle School solved the classics problem, “The Walls of Troy.” Their challenge was to create a Trojan Horse that was used to get past a wall. The performance also required a character from the Iliad, an original Greek chorus and a statue. The team was scored for the originality of its Trojan Horse, artistic quality of its wall, creativity of its portrayal of the Greek chorus and the effectiveness of its animated statue. Odyssey of the Mind is an international STEAM program that fosters creative problem-solving skills, teamwork and ownership in students from grades K through 12. One of the trademarks of the program is its “no outside assistance” philosophy. All ideas, scripts, props, solutions and paperwork are generated by the team members with no input from coaches, parents or teachers.
For more information about Odyssey of the Mind in Upper St. Clair or to register for the summer Ingenuity Camp, June 19-23 at Fort Couch Middle School, visit www.uscootm.com or email uscootm@gmail.com.