Odyssey Of The Mind Spontaneous Scrimmage At Reed

 Students from both Newtown and Brookfield gathered in Reed Intermediate School’s cafetorium on Thursday, January 14, for the second annual Odyssey of The Mind Spontaneous Scrimmage.

 Odyssey of The Mind is an international problem-solving, creative thinking, and performing arts program that is offered as an after school activity. Teams of up to seven students work on solving a long-term problem throughout the school year and practice spontaneous exercises, similar to exercises in Odyssey of The Mind competitions.

The 15 teams, eight from Newtown and seven from Brookfield, gathered for the Spontaneous Scrimmage to practice for the upcoming Odyssey of The Mind Connecticut Final competition, scheduled for Saturday, March 27, in Bethel.

At the final competition this year there will be nine teams representing Newtown from Reed and Newtown Middle School, according to Newtown Odyssey coach Anne Ziluck.

The event on Thursday was organized by Ms Ziluck, fellow Newtown Odyssey coach Dawn Gray, and Cindy Carroll, the Odyssey of the Mind town coordinator and coach from Brookfield.

Pizza was offered to the teams, and four problems were worked on by teams before the event ended at 8 pm.

Newtown team member Noelle Villette said if school was like Odyssey of The Mind, she would be happy to attend.

“We like testing our creativity,” Noelle said. “It is something we cannot always spill out.”

Brookfield coach Cindy Carroll said Odyssey of The Mind allows students to learn how to succeed and fail.

“It’s fun,” said Ms Carroll. “And the kids learn. They learn how to work together, team work.”

Ms Ziluck said the event was running smoothly, and the teams were enjoying the problems.

One of the problems teams had to solve at the Spontaneous Scrimmage was building a ship that would not sink out of either golf balls, straws, or other products.

At the final competition in Bethel, the teams will be judged in multiple categories for their long-term problems and a spontaneous problem, which could take the form of a verbal problem, a verbal/hands-on problem, or a hands-on problem. 

Three teams from Reed made it to the Odyssey of The Mind World Finals two years ago, representing the state. This year the World Finals event is scheduled at Michigan State University for May 26 through 29.

More information on Odyssey of The Mind is available at Connecticut Odyssey of The Mind’s website, www.ctom.org, or at the National site www.odysseyofthemind.com.