The Tamarac team reacts to winning first place at the 2017 Odyssey of the Mind State Finals.
A student team from Tamarac Secondary School in Brunswick finished in first place at the Odyssey of the Mind State Finals on April 8. They will now move on to the World Finals May 24-27 at Michigan State University – marking the 11th straight year that a team from Rensselaer, Columbia or Greene County has advanced to the World Finals.
The Tamarac Secondary School Team won first place in the Odd-a-Bot, Division II problem. This problem required the team to create a humorous story about a family that brings home an “Odd-a-Bot.” Instead of being programmed to perform tasks, this Odd-a-Bot robot had to learn from watching others.
They were among the 24 local teams advancing to the state competition from the regional competition coordinated by Questar III at Coxsackie-Athens CSD last month.
In total, 14 local teams finished in the top 10 statewide for their problem and age level. This includes three teams that placed third (Averill Park, Brunswick and Germantown) and three teams that finished fourth (Catskill, Hoosic Valley and Ichabod Crane).
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students of all ages. It encourages students to use their imaginations and to work in teams – skills that will be useful throughout their lives.
Teams are judged on their unique solutions to the problems, as well as their teamwork, creativity, ability to think out of the box, and in excelling (i.e., going above and beyond) throughout the competition.
