A team of seven fifth-graders from Wood Road Intermediate School recently competed at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at the University of Maryland in College Park from May 31 to June 3.
At the event, 840 teams from across the country and globe converged to present their solutions to a variety of different problems. The Wood Road team was tackling the Odyssey of the Mind Division I Road Rally this year and placed 15th out of the 57 teams competing in their division. The trip came on the heels of a first-place finish in the regional competition, which opened the door to state finals in Binghamton.
Members of the team were Christian Canham, Cody Fabian, Eric Howe, Luc Johnson, Ben Walker and Jacquelyn Wertel. They were coached by Krista and Robert Canham, and supported by Wood Road’s Odyssey of the Mind coordinator, Megan Otten.
The road rally event requires students to create a car that navigates four stations at which they must compete in a sports-related event. At one station, for example, the team used a remotely operated foot to kick a ball a certain distance.
According to Otten, the team has been working since October on their project, which featured mythology and the planets as a theme.
They loved it, said Otten. `They had an awesome time, and met so many people from so many different countries.“
