May 15, 2024

Odyssey of the Mind [2023-2024]

ootm stem education

Come 2023-24, friends in town started asking about Odyssey of the Mind, we realized our small but dedicated group of volunteers needed to expand. We wanted to include students from Central, Hamilton, and Glen Rock Middle School, but coaching alone in the evenings wasn’t sustainable. A simple call for help brought responses from entrepreneurial moms and likewise tech enthusiast parents.

Glen Rock Community School provided classroom space, as we approached and we were able to include 29 kids from Hamilton, Coleman, Central, and Glen Rock Middle School across the town of Glen Rock.

We were supported by a wonderful Glen Rock elementary teacher and four new parent coaches joining our original four Parent volunteers.

Competition Results (Regionals, States, World Finals)

Regionals

1. Participation Award 2023-24 for OOTM 2023-24 for Division Primary.
2. 3rd place in North Jersey (Skylands) Regionals, Division 1, Category - Vehicle.
3. 3rd place in North Jersey (Skylands) Regionals, Division 1, Category - Technical.
4. 3rd place in North Jersey (Skylands) Regionals in Division 2, Category - Performance.

State Finals

1. 6th Place in State Finals, 2023-24 in Division 1 Category - Vehicle.
2. 3rd place in State Finals, New Jersey State, 2023-24 in Division 1, Category - Technical.

Problems - Solutions

Team 1 - Vehicle Champions (Category - Vehicle)

Coaches - Varun Mehta, Abu Bockaire

Techno-Geniuses - (Category - Technical)

OMER Techno-Geniuses built Martha Bot only to realize she could destroy a human created art work and rebuild her own version in Nano Seconds. Do you think Bot Martha won the Art Competitions? Stakes were high. Could techno genius humans stop Bot Martha from taking on the world? How did these tech humans plot AI & Bots to their advantage? Find out here….

Techno-Geniuses learned the concept and working of Servo motors. They learned about a micro controller

Coaches - Shilpa Mehta, Jenna Sinha

Team 3 - Category - Performance

Coaches - Alison Chiappetta, Madhurima Choudhary

Primary Team - The Night Life

When most people are sleeping, there is a whole new world that comes to life in the night. In this problem teams will create and present a performance about an explorer character that searches for things in nature that “wake up” at nighttime. It will also include a team-created original discovery, something that lights up, and a team member in costume that represents a nocturnal animal.

Coaches - Ms Nina Pearsall, Parent Volunteer - Jenna Sinha