Four teams advance to World Finals

The team from Boyce Middle School that solved the vehicle problem, “The OM-Mazing Race,” earned second place in division one. Team members include Cole Hirzel, Roman Duffy, Ben Caesar, Ellie Finnegan, Emily Michalak, Quin Thorp and Julia Ross. The team is coached by Brett Duffy and Nadine Michalak.

The team’s task was to design, build and drive an all-terrain vehicle that transports riders on a race for a prize. In the performance, the vehicle traveled to three different destinations, overcame an obstacle, and learned that the prize for finishing the race was not as exciting as the Odyssey they took along the way.

Teams from Fort Couch Middle School and Boyce Middle School competed in the classics problem, "Classics... Cooking with Books." In this problem, teams created a performance about an original chef character who prepared a meal inspired by a classic piece of literature. The performance also included a team-created kitchen gadget and a dinner party with a character from the team's chosen literature. 

The Fort Couch team earned first place in division two, with a performance inspired by "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory." Team members include Ava Fingal, Sophia Lee, Caroline Fingal, Drew Holzer, Keira Mycoff, Rehana Rai and Lydia Calkins. Josh Mycoff and Doug Calkins serve as coaches.

The Boyce team earned second place in division two with a performance inspired by "The Hobbit." Team members include Penelope Collins, Kendall Zielinski, Avery Metcalf, Elliot Sams, Marcelina Enos and Lula Griffin. The team is coached by Sarah Sams and Jacob Collins.

The team from Upper St. Clair High School that solved the technical problem, "Mech-Animal Sidekick," earned second place in division three. Thea Sheuerle, Daphne Collins, Ashwin Vasudevan and Parker Sams performed in the competition. Nigel Bailey, Kayden Dunkin and Sophiya Gorban are also members of this team. This team is coached by Sarah Sams and Jacob Collins.

The team was required to create a robotic animal designed to cheer up characters in the performance by performing tricks. The performance also included live music, a toy for the robot and a trainer character, which the team portrayed as a dinosaur.

At the State Finals, 138 teams from across Pennsylvania competed by division in one of five chosen problems: vehicle, technical, classics, balsa and performance. In total, 11 Upper St. Clair teams competed at the state-level competition.

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 summer Ingenuity Camp, June 23-27 at Fort Couch Middle School, visit www.uscootm.com or email uscootm@gmail.com.