D-E’s Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) teams recently competed at the Skylands Regional Tournament at Hillsborough Middle School, accompanied by Coach Colleen Larionoff, Innovation Coordinator, and D-E 360° Director Sherronda Brown. Our Upper School (US) team placed first in their respective divisions and are heading to the state tournament! The US Structure team built a 15g tower of balsa wood that held several hundred pounds, and the US Classics team showcased students’ vocal, instrumental, and artistic talents. Meanwhile, our Lower School (LS) Vehicle team placed 5th, just a few points shy of making it to the state competition. Our other LS team competed in the technical category for the first time this year, and through this process learned how to make improvements for next year.

“Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition combining STEM and performing arts,” explained Ms. Larionoff. “The process is entirely collaborative and student-led. Teams of students choose a problem, engineer a solution to the problem, and then create a performance to showcase their solution.” When asked about their favorite parts of the process, students mentioned everything from learning to use power tools to acting.

CHEERS and congrats to ALL our OotM teams and special thanks to the OoTM parent volunteers who assisted at Skylands!