Archive: Around Town

Lansing Middle and High School students traveled to Broome Tioga BOCES on Saturday, March 8th for the Region 12 Odyssey of the Mind Tournament. Lansing had five teams competing in the tournament; there were three teams representing fifth grade, one team representing grades 6-8 and a team representing the high school.

Brenda Meade's fifth grade team competed against fourteen teams to solve the problem 'The Not-So-Haunted House'. In this problem team's created and presented an original performance that included a 'pop-up-style' not-so-haunted 'house' where four special effects take place. The intent of the special effects will be to scare others, but they will produce a different result instead. The performance will include at least one character that experiences the special effects and a narrator who relays the experiences to the audience. It will also include a surprise ending. The special effects will be scored for originality and engineering.


Jamey Jones, a parent volunteer, coached a team that competed against six teams to solve the problem 'It's How We Rule'.

Tara Kane, an OM alum and parent volunteer, coached a fifth grade team that competed in the problem, 'Seeing is Believing'; they competed against twelve teams in the Central NY region.

DeeAnn Calhoun's high school team of freshmen had a very tough competition against two other high school teams in their division as they prepared a problem solution for 'Seeing is Believing'. In this problem teams are to create and present an original performance about a community that feels threatened by something in a location it has never visited. The community townspeople will use a creative method to select one or more Travelers to visit and explore the location. While at the location, a Traveler will use a means of communication to send a message home to convince the community that there is nothing to fear. The performance will also include a narrator character, two rhymes about the travels, and a moving set piece.


Chantel Torrey and Lee Iannone's team of mixed 6-8th graders young women placed second (of 5 teams) and earned a spot at the State Tournament to be held at SUNY Binghamton in April for their problem solution to 'It's How We Rule'. In 'It's How We Rule', a Classics Odyssey of the Mind problem, teams re-create a King's Court from history and make their own Royal Court set in an original kingdom at a different time and place. The Historic Court issues a decree that fits in with its history, while the team-created Royal Court issues a decree that changes an everyday behavior for the people in the kingdom. The Historic court will be composed as the team wishes, but the original Royal Court will be made up of a leader, a minstrel that performs a song while playing a team-created instrument, and a jester that makes fun of the leader. The performance will include puppets and a Peoplet (a person portrayed as a puppet), and will be scored for humor.


Why Odyssey of the Mind is Good for Kids

The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students to learn creative problem-solving methods while having fun in the process. For more than twenty five years, this unique program has helped teachers generate excitement in their students. By tapping into creativity, and through encouraging imaginative paths to problem-solving, students learn skills that will provide them with the ability to solve problems -- great and small -- for a lifetime. The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students how to think divergently by providing open-ended problems that appeal to a wide range of interests. Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve those problems. They are free to express their ideas and suggestions without fear of criticism. The creative problem-solving process rewards thinking "outside of the box." While conventional thinking has an important place in a well-rounded education, students need to learn how to think creatively and productively.

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