Westlake Elementary Team Earns Top State Awards, Advances to Odyssey of the Mind World Finals

Congratulations to a remarkable Odyssey of the Mind team from Westlake Elementary, who advanced through last month’s State Tournament with an outstanding performance. The Wizards team earned first place in their problem category and secured second place overall, an extraordinary achievement!

Their success has earned them a place at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, taking place in late May in Ames, Iowa, where they will compete alongside more than 700 teams from around the world. In a milestone for Westlake Elementary, this is the first team in the school’s history to advance to the World Finals, setting a new standard of excellence and pride for the entire school community.

This record-setting team consists of seven 4th/5th grade students, who have been working on their chosen Odyssey problem since October.  This team has been competing in Odyssey of the Mind since the first grade.  It was their second time reaching the state tournament, but the first time advancing to the World Finals. Congratulations to the following team members on their hard-earned accomplishments:

• Alexa K., Grade 4
• Bodhi R., Grade 4
• Brandon F., Grade 4
• Chloe C., Grade 5
• Erik K., Grade 4
• Isaac C., Grade 4
• Michael L., Grade 4

More About the Competition:
From the six possible choices, the team chose to work on the Vehicle Problem.  This problem changes every year, and this year their challenge was to design, build and operate a train vehicle.  The train must travel a course and attach multiple train cars as it travels without any human assistance.  Along the route, it will encounter challenges that make the train travel in different ways.  It will also pick up cargo, which will then be unloaded and assembled into a work of art.  It must also include a humorous conductor character, a villain character that tries to prevent the train from getting to its destination, and has other requirements the team must solve.

Everything has to be done by the team members without any "outside assistance".  That means they can’t get help from anyone, including adults.  The team comes up with the ideas for their solution all on their own.

There are two adult coaches who help facilitate, teach skills that the team asks to learn, and help coordinate the meetings.  But anything done on the actual problem solution can only come from the students.

What is Odyssey of the Mind?
It’s the largest creative problem solving competition in the world!  Odyssey of the Mind encourages participants to be creative and to “think outside the box”.  They are rewarded for coming up with unique, creative solutions to open ended problems.

The competition consists of three components: a Long-Term Problem, where teams create and perform an original solution; a Spontaneous Problem, an on-the-spot challenge requiring quick thinking; and Style, which highlights the team’s creativity and unique strengths through artistic and design elements. 

Team members learn to work together, build self-confidence and develop life skills in areas of public speaking, time management, conflict resolution and more!

Way to represent the CVUSD in this renown, creative problem solving competition. We are so proud of you Wizards, and wish you all the best in the World Finals ahead. Click here to learn more about the Odyssey of the Mind program.