Overview
What is Odyssey of the Mind?
Odyssey of the Mind is the world's oldest international creative
problem-solving competition among students kindergarten through
college. The purpose of Odyssey of the Mind is to promote creativity
and problem-solving in a variety of areas from building mechanical
devices and balsa wood structures to presenting dramatic and
technical performances. Odyssey of the Mind develops team building
skills, divergent thinking, presentation and organization skills.
The program provides a caring, supportive environment for team
members to develop a variety of skills.
While Odyssey of the Mind is a competitive program, it's nothing like a typical sporting event. The competitive element encourages kids to do the best that they can, but it's a friendly competition. Odyssey of the Mind is not a scholar bowl or a competition about facts and knowledge. It's all about creativity! Kids are rewarded more for how they apply their knowledge, skills and talents, rather than for coming up with the right answer. In fact, in Odyssey of the Mind problems, there isn't one right answer!
Sponsor
Creative Competitions, Inc. (CCI) located in Sewell, New Jersey,
sponsors the program. CCI develops the problems and provides support
materials and services to the licensed associations. CCI also hosts
the annual World Finals. Sammy Micklus is the Program Director.
MOCAPS
Missouri Creative Achievements in Problem Solving, a non-profit
educational organization, is licensed by CCI to present the program
in Missouri. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors.
It provides support for coaches, awareness sessions, coaches' and
judges' trainings and sponsors a State Tournament.
Organization
Teams of up to seven members solve a long-term problem and develop
skills in spontaneous problems. Teams are guided by a coach who must
not be involved in anyway with the problem solution, but may help
the team logistically by providing practice locations, materials and
instruction in techniques, not solutions. Teams compete in each
problem against other teams in their age division. Divisions are
divided according to school grade. Top teams and teams receiving the
coveted Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award at the State Tournament
advance to the World Finals.
Participants
The Odyssey program began is 1978 with 28 schools in New Jersey.
Today there are more than 3,500 memberships in the United States and
many foreign countries including Canada, Japan, China, Poland,
Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, Singapore, Slovakia, United Kingdom,
Moldova, Australia, Lithuania, West Africa, Siberia and Kazakhstan.
At the annual World Finals teams from around the world present their
solutions to the same problems.
A Brief History
The Odyssey of the Mind has its roots in the Industrial Design
classes of Dr. Sam Micklus, Odyssey of the Mind founder. As a
professor at Rowan University in New Jersey (formerly Glassboro
State College) Dr. Micklus challenged his students to create
vehicles without wheels, mechanical pie throwers and flotation
devices that would take them across a course on a lake. He evaluated
them not on the success of their solutions, but on the ingenuity
applied and the risk involved in trying something new and different.
Students had fun. Word spread and the students' activities attracted
attention from the local media. Soon, people on the outside wanted a
part of the action. This public interest led to the development of a
creative problem-solving competition for school children. The
Odyssey of the Mind was on its way. Since then, Dr. Micklus's life
has been happily consumed with developing problems for other people
to solve. His rewards are in the joy and pride of the millions of
participants who rise to the challenge of solving those problems.
How to join
Schools, clubs or community organizations become members by purchasing a membership from Creative Competitions, Inc. A membership allows a school to field one team per problem, per division. Purchase a National Membership
Each team competing in the Missouri State Tournament pays a registration fee of $75.00