Abington Journal

Education

Christopher J. Hughes Abington Journal Reporter

CLARKS SUMMIT – It’s about this time each year that parent volunteers and creative students begin to worry.

Less than two weeks remain until the regional Odyssey of the Mind competition on March 1 at the Dingman-Delaware Schools in Dingmans Ferry.

Odyssey of the Mind (OM) is an international creative problem-solving competition. Students are given problem synopses in one of five categories – vehicular, technical, classic, dramatic and structure – and a spending limit between $120 and $150 to build working vehicles, create structures that support weight or develop stories and songs and solve their chosen problem.

The excitement of the approaching competition is common to students familiar with the program that focuses on creative problem solving. It’s also common to longtime coaches like Clarks Summit resident Mary Beth Adelman. Adelman is in her tenth year coaching local teams and has served as Odyssey of the Mind coordinator for the Abington Heights School District for eight years. She also serves on the state’s Odyssey of the Mind board and is an assistant to the Northeastern Pennsylvania regional director.

“Because they do all of the work themselves, they discover these abilities in themselves,” Adelman said, noting that coaches never suggest or repair the solutions. “They learn that it’s OK to not have things work right the first time, and they take pride in their own accomplishments.”

Adelman’s son Jeremy, a junior at Abington Heights, is a member of one of Abington’s 18 teams registered this year. Her oldest son, Mickey, now a sophomore engineering student, will compete at the collegiate level alongside former teammates from Abington as well.

“Right now, with two weeks to competition, all of the coaches are having nightmares,” Adelman said jokingly. Teams are still putting final touches on their solutions, but it’s not the only arena where they are scored. Creativity also plays a large role. In the past, Adelman’s teams have used coffee cans, milk bottle caps and duct tape to make clothing. They’ve even covered a moving dragon in America Online trial offer CDs.

Students are also scored in a spontaneous problem using verbal and mechanical skills to instantly solve a problem. Bill Fontanella, of Clarks Green, has been leading students throughout the region in the problems for 11 years. He works with students on practice problems for about four hours per week from October to February. He has also served as an OM judge at the state and world levels.

“You get to see so any kids work on their feet in high-pressure situations,” Fontanella said. “I enjoy working with the kids and seeing what they can do, because some of the things they do are just amazing.”

Clarks Summit resident and Our Lady of Peace School (OLP) OM coordinator Margi Kelly added, “It’s fabulous for the kids. It’s a creative outlet that they don’t normally get.”

Our Lady of Peace School, located on North Abington Road in Clarks Green, was the only school in the Diocese of Scranton to participate in the program for a number of years. This year the St. Paul / St. Clare School in Scranton’s Green Ridge section will also participate.

“It’s been growing at OLP ever since it started,” Kelly said. “Abington Heights couldn’t have been nicer to OLP when we wanted to begin this program. It’s a nice way for the students to develop a camaraderie that they wouldn’t have otherwise, and it’s amazing to me how comfortable some of the students are speaking in front of a crowd with a piece of tinfoil on their head.”

Odyssey of the Mind scoring

Long term solutions: Up to 200 points for overall execution of problem guidelines.

Long term style: Up to 50 points for unique costumes, presentation, etc.

Spontaneous problem: Up to 100 points for on-the-spot verbal and mechanical solutions.