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“Odyssey of the Mind” Holds Out-of-the Box Competition

On March 3, Odyssey of the Mind participants will compete at Millersville.

Students participating during a past Odyssey of the Mind competition.

Odyssey of the Mind has been teaching students to think “out of the box” for more than 25 years. Roughly 590 of Pennsylvania’s most creative K-12 students will be at Millersville University’s campus on Saturday, March 3, to compete in this creative, problem-solving competition.

“The day will be the culmination of a several months of hard work for these students, all related to creativity,” said Dr. Jill Craven, professor of film studies at Millersville. More than 94 teams from Pennsylvania are already registered to compete in the day’s events.

Each year, Odyssey of the Mind posts new problems on its website for students across the globe to creatively solve by working in teams. The problems are grouped into five categories: Mechanical/vehicle, technical/performance, classics, structure and performance. For example, the technical/performance problem this year is sponsored by National Aeronautics and Space Administration. To solve it, teams will have to create and present a performance about a group of scientists who go on an expedition to uncover mysterious events.

On the day of the competition, all teams will be given a “spontaneous” problem to solve on the spot that they cannot prepare for ahead of time. The highest scoring student teams from this regional competition will be invited to present their long-term solutions at state and world competitions.

“It’s a day of great challenge, teamwork and accomplishment. It doesn’t matter whether you win, place or just show,” said Craven.

While registration is closed for this year, information for next year can be found at the Odyssey of the Mind Registration website.

This year’s competition will begin at 8 a.m. in the Student Memorial Center and continue past 4 p.m., with the award ceremony in the early evening. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Craven at 717-872-3627 or Jill.Craven@millersville.edu.

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