Westfield Students Represent New Jersey As World Finalist In 'Odyssey Of The Mind'

Press release:

Having worked since October to solve an internationally proposed problem, within pre-set guidelines, 6 Westfield students; Hannah Cherry, Will Crall, Billy Maguire, Amanda Rosenthal, Meredith Rosenthal and Erin Roth, represented the State of New Jersey as World Finalists in Odyssey of the Mind.  

This is an International competition of over 860 teams representing over 30 countries and 36 states.  The competition was held from May 28 to June 1 at Iowa State University, in Ames, IA. The Westfield Odyssey of the Mind team from Edison Intermediate School Elementary Gifted and Talented Program was guided by parent coaches Elin Cherry, Suzanne Rosenthal and Diann Gropp-Roth - representing the Classics Problem “It’s How We Rule”. 

Westfield’s “It’s How we Rule” team earned second place honors in its category at the State Finals in order to advance to have the honor of competing against the 54 best international teams.  The Westfield team proudly placed 22nd. 

Each Odyssey team takes on a “Long Term” problem in one of five categories, mechanical/vehicle, technical performance, classics, structure or performance, and presents their solution before a panel of judges. 

The solutions to these “Long Term” problems are worked out entirely by the students, and are   judged for many factors including style, artistry, humor, and creativity. In the “Spontaneous” portion of the competition, teams need to use their quick thinking skills to provide on-the-spot solutions to brain teasers that test verbal skills, mechanical skills or both. 

These students work under the guidance of parent coaches for months to prepare the Long Term presentations, devising working models, building sets and creating costumes within a small budget, as well as writing scripts and rehearsing presentations. Along the way they learned about teamwork, respect, sportsmanship, perseverance and hard work.

While attending the competition the Westfield team befriended a buddy team from South Korea.  It was an enlightening opportunity for the students to learn about different cultures and meet children from the other side of the globe who had prepared in much the same way they had. 

For more information about the Westfield Odyssey of the Mind Program, email WestfieldOdyssey@gmail.com.