This past week the State Champion Odyssey of the Mind team from Northampton High School traveled to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa to compete in the 2024 Odyssey of the Mind World Finals where championship teams from 32 states and 10 other countries came to compete for a shot at being crowned World Champion for their problem. This year the team from Northampton High School was competing in Problem 5: Rocking World Detour. In this problem, OM teams will create a performance about a rock band on tour. Things get derailed in a very Odyssey way while playing a song, the band is transported to an unexpected location. The band members must figure out how to use music to get them back on their tour. The performance will also include original band merchandise, hairstyles, make-up, and a team-created instrument.
Besides the long-term problem they have been working on all year, students also compete in the spontaneous portion of the competition where students have a limited amount of time to complete a problem that they have never seen before with whatever materials are given to them by the judges. These two aspects alongside the style portion, and specific creative items the judges are looking for, come together to make the team’s overall score for the competition.
At the end of the week-long competition, our students ended up placing 22nd out of 47 teams within our problem. This is an achievement for our students to be ranked 22nd in the world out of the hundreds of teams that have competed across the country and world during this Odyssey of the Mind season. Our students continue to build upon their success of last year’s World Finals placement of 30th and again look ahead to next year to further their skills and hope to place even higher on the world stage.
Besides the competition, our students got to talk and connect with students from all over the US and the world through pin trading and other OM activities offered during the week making friends and connections that will last a lifetime. We want to thank everyone for their support this season, not only for this team but for all of the Odyssey of the Mind teams from Northampton County Public Schools. If you or your child would like to know more about Odyssey of the Mind within their school, please contact Mr. Brad Ford, Odyssey of the Mind Coordinator at bford@ncpsk12.com.
