This year’s Odyssey of the Mind Tournament will be held March 25 at Coxsackie-Athens CSD
This year, a record 98 teams from Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene Counties will gather at Coxsackie-Athens CSD on March 25 for the annual Region 4 Odyssey of the Mind Tournament. Each team will solve one of a series of six problems using a combination of skills, including song, dance, acting, and logic.
Registration for the day-long competition begins at 7:00 a.m. and performances are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The awards ceremony will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m.
At least one team from Rensselaer, Columbia, or Greene County has advanced to the World Finals every year since 2007, including 12 in the past five years alone, with three advancing in 2014, one in 2015, and three in 2016.
A team from Wynantskill UFSD presents a solution to their long-term problem.
Teams must offer original and creative solutions to open-ended problems in less than eight minutes. One of this year’s problems requires the team to create a robot that learns skills such as household chores from watching others perform the tasks. Volunteer judges will score the team for creativity. You can see all six problems teams can choose here.
There is still time to be a part of this year’s tournament. More than 100 judges and volunteers are needed for the event on March 25. Judges must be 18 years of age or older, able to participate all day, and be enthusiastic and encouraging. Volunteer positions are available for everyone – for just a few hours or those who want to be involved before, during and after the tournament. You can find links to register to volunteer or judge below.
We also encourage you to follow the events on Twitter by following @QuestarIII and using #GoRegion4 – we only ask that you avoid posting video of team presentations on social media to ensure every team has their own unique solution to each problem.
Judges review the Wynantskill team’s presentation with the students.
Teams with the highest scores in their problem and age group will advance to the state tournament in Binghamton on April 8th, and those who place first or second in their problem and division will move on to the World Finals at Michigan State University from May 24-27.
To stay up-to-date with the latest tournament information, please visit our website at www.questar.org
Registration links:
Judges (note there will be a mandatory training held January 28 at Capital Region BOCES): http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/reg/registration_step.php?g=ootm&s=judge&c=15237
Volunteers: http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/reg/registration_step.php?g=ootm&s=volunteer&c=15237
