Welcome back to seven third graders, their coaches and parents who traveled to Iowa State University last week for the Odyssey of the Mind world finals competition. They joined 847 teams from around the world to explore creative problem solving challenges.

 

“I feel really good about our team working together on our problem and being invited to go to Worlds,” says Levi Morris. “Odyssey of the Mind gave me a great way to solve problems differently and think creatively. Usually I take the obvious way to solve a problem and now I think about things differently.”

 

Graland’s Lightning Quest team qualified for the trip after scoring highly in regional and state competitions. At the big event, they were one of the “best of the best” teams to take their project, “No-Cycle Recycle,” to the next level:

 

“Teams will build, ride on, and drive a no-cycle, recycling vehicle. It will pick up discarded items, adapt them in some way, and then deliver them to places to be re-used. The vehicle must travel without pedaling for propulsion. In addition, the driver will have an assistant worker riding on the vehicle that will help process the trash items being repurposed. They will make an unplanned stop along the way to perform a random act of kindness.”

 

Students slept in university dorms, ate in the student union and were matched with a similar team from Poland to enhance their global experience. Having buddies from another country was a favorite memory for Helen Grace Austin: “My favorite part of Odyssey Finals was spending time with our buddy team from Poland because we were able to communicate and play games without speaking the same language.”

 

To further encourage interaction, teams from each area brought trading pins, a popular activity among students. Adam Odette said, “[This was a] once in a lifetime chance to pin trade with people from around the world.”

 

Co-coach Robin Morris thought the whole experience was a taste of what students can achieve when they work together, listen, practice good leadership skills and take risks. It was also a chance for them to exercise a little independence.

 

“The kids really seemed to mature quite a bit in just a few days,” she says, describing how students felt empowered to explore, meet new people and make decisions for themselves.

 

It was a unique experience that impacted the parents as well. “The trip to Worlds required a coordinated effort by all seven families,” Robin says. “Shipping the materials, coordinating T-shirts, hosting our buddy team from Poland, volunteering at the Colorado booth (Giant Jenga) at the Creativity Festival, 6:30 a.m. coffee runs and sack lunch pick-ups -- parents worked together to ensure the team had a successful and memorable week together at Iowa State University, a testament to what it means to be part of the Graland community.”

 

Graland had six Odyssey teams this year from Grades 3-4. Congratulations to Lightning Quest on their Odyssey World Finals experience!