SALAMANCA — Creativity, teamwork and dedication have paid off for a Salamanca Odyssey of the Mind team headed to Michigan State University to compete in the World Finals.

From May 21–24, the Division 3 Classics team will think outside the box and perform amongst some of the world’s most creative thinkers.

This year’s World competitors are ninth graders Drew Clayson, Paxtynn Kerswill and Merle Watt III; 10th grader Rowan Brown; and 11th grader Ezekiel Cotter. Team Advisor Janette McClure said Drew, Paxtynn and Zeke have competed before and been to the World Finals with other teams in the past, but Rowan and Merle are new this year.

The Division 3 team members have been working in teams since December, refining their performances and designs to solve one of five problems released each year by the international Odyssey of the Mind (OM) program. Their choices were The OM-Mazing Race, Mech-Animal Sidekick, Classics… Cooking with Books, Save Me Structure and AstronOMical Odyssey. The Salamanca team going to the Worlds chose Problem 3, Classics… Cooking with Books.

According to the OM website, Classics… Cooking with Books takes on a whole new meaning as teams create a performance about an original chef character that is inspired by fictional literary characters and events. Teams will choose from selected classic literature and create a gourmet meal based on their chosen book. The performance will include a setting from the book that inspired the meal, a team-created cooking gadget and a dinner party featuring the meal that includes a character from the book.

McClure said the team placed first at the Region 19 competition hosted by Salamanca City Central School this year in March. She said four teams advanced to the New York State OM finals held April 5 at the state fairgrounds in Syracuse.

“All four Salamanca teams represented well at the state competition. Three of our teams took 5th place in their respective divisions. This Classics team, however, placed 2nd out of 17 teams in their division, qualifying them for World Finals,” she said. “We also had two teams qualify and compete in the Worlds in 2023.”

In a post made on the Salamanca City Central School District website, salamancany.org, McClure said Odyssey of the Mind teams are formed and problems selected each October. There are five problems that students may select. Teams are formed at the elementary school level (Division 1), the middle school level (Division 2) and high school (Division 3). The problems are the same each year, however, the rules and problem descriptions change.

“Students participate as teams to solve a ‘Long Term Problem’ that they work on from October until the regional competition in March,” she explained. “They have adult coaches working with them, but the students must develop their own solutions, write and perform a play about it and build their own sets and props.”

The coaches can teach the students how to do things, but the students must execute everything on their own, McClure explained. They present their solution in an eight-minute performance at the competition and are then judged and scored. The teams are also given a new “Spontaneous Problem” that day, which they must solve in front of the judges in a private room.

McClure has been Salamanca’s OM Advisor since 2018, when she took over for Brenda Windus, who was retiring, but remains as an assistant advisor and coach. McClure, who is a Kindergarten teacher at Prospect Elementary School, coaches OM teams from Seneca Intermediate and the high school.

McClure said Odyssey of the Mind is an amazing program that encompasses a wide variety of experiences that promote skills students may not otherwise have opportunities to engage with on a regular basis. She said the most critical components encourage and facilitate creative problem solving, teamwork, ingenuity and resourcefulness.

“Whether or not a team excels at any level competition, the skills acquired in the process prove the students in the future as invaluable assets,” she said. “If there’s anything the world needs now, it’s more creative problem solvers.”

To learn more about the Odyssey of the Mind program, visit online at odysseyofthemind.com and omworldfinals.com.