State College of Florida Collegiate School (SCFCS) is sending a team to the Odyssey of the Mind World Competition after winning regionals and finishing in first place at the state competition.
The team will compete in the World Competition at Iowa State University over Memorial Day weekend. Competing for the second consecutive time are SCFCS seniors Kyra Farinas, Pedro Garcia, Rayhanah Waldin, Alexis Whalen and Laura Whalen. They are joined by senior Mateus Urbanski. SCFCS instructor Lisa Lacey is the team’s coach. Karen Peck, SCFCS academic administrator, will accompany the team to the competition.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program whose mission is to provide creative problem-solving opportunities for students. Through solving open-ended problems, students develop creative-thinking skills that can be applied to real-life situations. Teams from throughout the United States and more than 20 other countries participate in the program. Each team chooses one of five competitive problems to solve, and volunteers from around the world judge the competitions. Teams are scored for their long-term problem solution and how well they solve a spontaneous problem.
“The program mirrors our expectations at the school,” said Kelly Monod, head of SCFCS. “We ask students to be creative, resourceful and independent. This success in getting to world competition is already a great influence on other students at the school.”
Another SCFCS team took second place at the state competition, qualifying the team for the World Competition, but a scheduling conflict has prevented the team from attending.
The team heading to Iowa State University is raising money for the trip. Anyone interested in donating may donate through paypal at scfcs.scf.edu/donate or through the State College of Florida Foundation, by designating the donation for Odyssey of the Mind at SCFCS. For more information, contact Lacey at LaceyL@SCF.edu or 941-752-5494.