Seven Berner Middle School students will advance to the state-level of the Odyssey of the Mind competition in Binghamton, NY, on April 11, after impressing judges at the regionals at Nassau BOCES Rosemary Kennedy School in Wantagh. Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members solve problems such as building mechanical devices or presenting their own interpretation of literary classics and compete on the local, state, and world levels.
Team members Jack Graziano, Samantha Carroll, Jillian Spurrell, Kathryn Welgarz, Tatum McMillan, Dennis Faiella and Olivia Poucell used their creativity to solve the problem titled “Lose Your Marbles,” which required teams to design, build, and test a structure, made only of balsa wood and glue, to balance and support as much weight as possible. The team had to incorporate weight placement and “losing your marbles” into the theme of its performance.
“These students worked extremely hard to prepare for the regional competition,” said Team advisor Brian Rossi. “They stayed at school every day for two weeks until 5:30 p.m. to rehearse and build props for their presentation. They were jumping for joy when they found out they were going to states. I am very proud of them.”
