Holy Family students expanding their minds through ODYSSEY Of THE MIND!

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college, and fosters original and divergent thinking.    Holy Family’s 5^th grade has been participating in the program this year and sent 3 teams to the competition!

Team members are challenged to creatively solve long-term problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.  They do this with no assistance from any adult or child outside of their team.  They bring their solutions to competition on the local, state and world level.  Thousands of teams throughout the U.S. and 25 other countries participate in the program. 

Holy Family students began their critical thinking back in September.  They have been working for months brainstorming, role-playing, and testing theories to come up with creative ways to solve their team’s problem.  The parent coaches have been thrilled to see how OOTM has given the students a new appreciation of teamwork, and understanding of how a group has a more powerful thinking force than an individual.  

The three teams, Nature Trail’R, Food Court, and Column Structure all competed in the Regional's in March.  The competition was tough, especially for HFS who had never participated in the program before.  They did GREAT!  Food Court and Column Structure moved on to States.  Now the stakes were higher, only the first two teams in each division would go on to Worlds.   Food Court came in fourth and Column Structure placed second, sending them on to Worlds!    All three teams are to be congratulated for their hard work and excellent divergent thinking!

The World competition will be held at Michigan State University this May.  Our Column Structure Team is preparing to go.  They are excited to compete at this level and to meet students from many  states and from other countries!  The cost of the trip with travel, housing and meals is expensive.  The Team is reaching out to the community, parish and the school families to help defer the cost of the trip.  Please look out for ways that you can help support our Holy Family Team!

Thank you!