To the Editor:

Voorheesville Middle School’s Odyssey of the Mind team won first place and one high school team won second place ribbons at the Odyssey of the Mind Regional Tournament at Shenendehowa High School on Feb. 28. Seventy-five teams from 33 schools, including seven teams from Voorheesville, participated in the creative problem solving competition.

The middle school team now advances to the State Tournament on April 11 at the University of Binghamton. Team members include: Jordan Bein, Rori Champion, Maeve Connolly, Gabrielle Dowd, Leon Fitzjarrald, Maeve Owen, and Krista Rivers

“The seven teams representing Voorheesville worked incredibly hard over the past five months to bring their best to the tournament on Saturday,” said Tricia Putnam, coach of the Middle School Team.  “It was tons of fun watching the teams give it their all. But the great thing about Odyssey isn’t the competition or the scores that you get at the end of the day; it’s the journey to get there.”

Throughout the daylong tournament, teams competed in both the “Long-term” competition, which they prepared in advance, and “Spontaneous,” in which they were given a problem to solve on the spot.

On the tournament day, all of the time spent problem-solving, brainstorming, refining ideas, negotiating with each other, script-writing, and prop-building truly culminated in rewarding performances. Our Middle School Team delivered a fabulous performance.  All the students who finished the Odyssey season at regionals ought to have a genuine sense of accomplishment and pride because what they've worked on for months is all their own.

The program is made possible at Voorheesville Central School District with support from the Voorheesville School and Community Foundation, the Parent Teacher Association, and the school district, as well as a dedicated group of coaches. On tournament day, the support from other teams, family, and friends was fantastic.

Michelle Lisboa, advisor

Odyssey of the Mind

Voorheesville