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St. Luke’s First Odyssey of the Mind Team Competes in State Tournament
St. Luke's first-ever Odyssey of the Mind team competes in the 2015 Connecticut State Tournament. Read about this unique learning experience and our students' inspiring performance.
During spring break, St. Luke’s had its first-ever Odyssey of the Mind Team compete in the 34th Annual Connecticut Odyssey of Mind State Tournament. Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students. Teams solve a range of challenges from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their ideas to competition on the local, state and world level.
Connecticut State teams competed in both a spontaneous problem where they had five minutes to respond with creative solutions and a long term problem which they worked diligently on beginning in January. The long term problem was a parody on the Greek Myth of Pandora’s Box. They wrote a script and produced a play representing a video game where at each level of the game an avatar is eliminated. The set design, costumes, story-line and acting were all created by the teammates with less than $125 in total to spend. Undaunted by weekend collaborations cut short by multiple snowstorms, the 7th graders worked hard and delivered a performance that was innovative, humorously creative and 100% original. Notably, St. Luke’s team score on the spontaneous problem was among the highest in their division of 18 teams, proof of their mettle and tenacity.
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St. Luke’s (parent) coach Taylor Gibson-Ullman said, “St. Luke’s School should very proud of the team. They demonstrated talent, determination, creativity and true leadership. They collaborated as a team and designed, wrote, built and created everything themselves. The kids were challenged, had a wonderful learning experience and ultimately were quite successful.”
St. Luke’s Odyssey of the Mind team included 7th graders Jamie Ullman, Henry Jodka, Harper Boege, Brodie Menzies, Ruth Mercedes, Peter Gutstein, Sarah Bibb and Marco Volpitta. SLS parents Donna Volpitta and Ron Gutstein served as Assistant Coaches.
Connecticut State teams competed in both a spontaneous problem where they had five minutes to respond with creative solutions and a long term problem which they worked diligently on beginning in January. The long term problem was a parody on the Greek Myth of Pandora’s Box. They wrote a script and produced a play representing a video game where at each level of the game an avatar is eliminated. The set design, costumes, story-line and acting were all created by the teammates with less than $125 in total to spend. Undaunted by weekend collaborations cut short by multiple snowstorms, the 7th graders worked hard and delivered a performance that was innovative, humorously creative and 100% original. Notably, St. Luke’s team score on the spontaneous problem was among the highest in their division of 18 teams, proof of their mettle and tenacity.
In an email to New Canaan Odyssey of the Mind coaches, Sonia Schott, New Canaan Odyssey of the Mind Coordinator wrote, “The value of learning how to work together, to think differently, resolve challenges and to create original solutions exceeds most of anything you ever do in the classroom.” Kudos to these trailblazing SLS middle schoolers for their tremendous spirit and grit, and for leading the way for future creative thinkers to follow.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
