Thanks a bunch!

We would like to Thank, the following people for sending something in!

Mr. and Mrs. William Herbst 
Michael and Pam Odlum 
John Freedman and Gard Lorey 
Mark and Sandra Murray 
Angie and Mark Angus 
Richard and Clarice Coston 
Roland and Gisela Schroeder
Jackie Bays and family

What a great article!

The Citizen had a great article about the teams going to Michigan. You can read it by clicking here!

If anyone knows about other articles that were written, please let me know!

Thank you!

Today when the mail was opened...another round of Thank You's!!

Honestly, for everyone that has done something, we cannot thank you enough!

H.E. Khalifa
Linda Chow
Joan and Eugne Tarolli
Thomas and Annora Weber
Robert and Barbara Honcharski

For your generosity, we thank you!

Every day we are getting closer and closer to our goal.

I have to admit...I was a bit worried when I saw the budget numbers,
I just couldn't see, how in just a little over a month, we could raise that
much money! 

But now I see with the kind hearted, generous people that we have all
called upon, It is a very attainable goal!  We can only thank you all for that!

Thank you so much for everyone who has donated!  Your kindness means
 a lot to these kids.

Here is the donation list from today...

Phyllis Clark
David Nangle
Michael & Vicki Condie
Christine Grajko
Dale & Rillan VanEpps
Sue and Wayne Eckhardt
Robert & Judith Rood
Sonbyrne Sale, INC
William Lynn
Myron & Deborah Mitchell

Wednesday night Board of Education meeting!

Tonight was the night that the kids were honored by the Board of Education. All members were present and watched their long term problems and congratulated them on their achievement! The kids all got certificates as well. I think they all felt pretty good about themselves!

Division II team, waiting patiently (you didn't see the pic from before, where they looked like wild monkeys) before the board meeting. The two teams were presenting their long term problems. The Division I team performed their problem and Division II showed a slide show, since there wasn't enough space to do a performance!


The press taking photos of them. There were a couple different newspaper people to talk to all the kids!
Here is the division I team. They performed their long term problem and honestly I wish I had taped it for those of you who have not seen it! I was so amazed and impressed! They really have a great group and it all just flowed wonderfully!
The pictures just don't do it justice, this was SO funny to watch, the comedy was fantastic!!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Hi Everyone!

Here are the donations that came today in the mail...
Stephen and Samantha Veeder
Mark and Gina Glauser
Walter and Bernadette Buell
Patricia and Steven Ford
Kenneth & Margaret Bennett
Edna Bardwell
Robert and Sara Neuman
Kathleen Hensberry

Another round of Thank You's!!

Thank you for all the great support!
Going to the World Championship would not be possible without every one's
willingness to jump right in and help out!

The spirit of giving, never ceases to amaze me!
Thank you again!


Jay & Heidemarie Baker
Helen & Dave Sheppard
Eileen & Andrew Cole
Lawrence & MaryLee Berg
Gail Brehm
Michael & Mary Hensberry
Robert Eggleston
Barbara Postek
Tacie & Rolly Anderson
David & Joy Ahles

Many ways of saying Thank you, to many people!!

The donations have been coming in!!
The following people have sent donations already:

Alfred & Mary K. Carpenter - Thank You!
Richard and Kimberly Poppa - Merci Beacoup! (French)
Lakeview Auto (Bob DeWitt) - Danke! (German)
John & Kathleen Maurillo - Efharisto! (Greek)
Christopher and Catherine Pinckney - Dêkuji (Czech)
Adelina Romano  - Grazie! (Italian)
Anne Gordon - Toda! (Hebrew)
Debroah & Martin Hubbard - Tak! (danish)
Jean Graham - Arigato! (Japanese)
Bennie and Eleanor Ware - Kamsa Hamida! (Korean)
Kim and Scott McMaster -Obrigado! (Portuguese)
Helen Wolford - Tack! (Swedish)
Anne Welytok - Kawp-kun krap/ka' (Thai)
Carl and Carol Brownscheidle - Spasibo! (Russian)
James and Kimball Kraus - Danke Shon! (German)
John and Joan Priest - Istutiy! (Sri Lanka)
James Dietz - Terima Kasih! (Indonesian/Malayan)
Mark and Kristen Rossi - Kiitos! (Finnish)
Joyce Cady -  Xie Xie! (Chinese, Mandarin)
Tessy Plastics - Danke! (German)
Susan Sletteland - Salamat po (Philippines)
James & Madge McMaster - Sukria! (Hindi)
Deiter & Helga Frick - Danke schon! (German)
Charles & Beth Driscoll - Gracias! (Spanish)
Dane & Debbie Gist - Ta! (Australian English)
Robert Jeanne Young - Do Jeh! (Chinese cantonese)
Richard Kraetz - Thanks so much!
Grace Anne Camp - Merci! (French)

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Go Teams!

I'm not too sure how many people are following this page! I know that my family is, and perhaps a couple of other families as well!

I would like to point out, that on the bottom of each post, there is a section that you can click on, called COMMENTS. You may leave a comment of well wishes or suggestions for fundraising or just to say hello! Simply click on the comment box, and it will bring a pop up, next just hit either the anonymous and then just type your name in or the other button which says other and you can add your name. It is not necessary to sign in or give any password! Honestly it is very simple!

With the week off for spring break, there has not been too much going on, so stay tuned for lots of new stuff in the weeks to come!

Thank you to all that are sending in your donations already, our teams are very thankful for any bit of help in meeting our goal!

Here are two hard working boys!

Fundraising ideas have been flooding in from the team! They are very motivated and are willing to do anything! These two sold bottled water at a school function for $1.00, other great ideas were to put a teacher in jail (my son's personal favorite:) selling lolly pops and many more fantastic ideas!

We would like to thank everyone who was thirsty at the State street wax museum! Just know that you are bringing us that much closer to our goal!

Pin trading

Pin trading is huge at Odyssey of the Mind. It's a tradition that goes back more than 20 years. Millions of pins have been traded and thousands of friendships have probably been made during those trades! I don't think anyone thought that pin - trading would become as widespread and popular as it is today!

Did you know that there will be participants from other countries there? (Not to mention from almost every state in the USA.)
Argentina, Australia, Belarus, British Columbia, China, Czech Republic, Dodds Europe, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Kazachstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Ontario, Phillipines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

Each region, and each country has their own specific trading pins, we give our kids each $100 worth of pins to trade with and each pin is usually $1.00, 2.50 or at the very most $5.00. So you can see, they are very reasonably priced. It's not a money maker, it's a memory maker!

NOW, can you imagine, it is all children...Creative, wonderful children! Who get to interact with each other by trading pins...Who cares, if they can't speak the language! Pin trading must have an international language of its own. They will point, smile, nod or shake their head. It will be an experience for every one of them for a lifetime!

They are signed, sealed and ready to be mailed!

Division II team working hard! Don't be fooled by the blurry picture, they weren't working that fast!Division I team, they were very serious, diligent workers! When I asked them to look up for a picture...One team member said..."Can't! Got lots of work to do, no time!"
Some team members finished really quickly!
Some worked hard and steady, with a smile on their face!
Some team members, had to write till their hands hurt!
In the end, they finally finished stuffing their envelopes, writing some personal notes and sealing them. They are ready to go, a lot of hard work and pride in what they did!

East Lansing or Bust!

I would like to add a very special Thank you to one of the Mom's. For every meeting, she has brought some sweet treat for everyone to share. Tonight, were the best brownies I have had in a long time. And for our Parents meeting...These wonderful cranberry/pecan things (I've already asked for the recipe) served warm, over vanilla ice cream!

Thank you Rise!

Thank you Tiny Tiara!

We will be having a very large FUNdraiser on Saturday, May 5th!

I think I had mentioned that there would be a SILENT AUCTION with FANTABULOUS items to bid on!

The wonderfully whimsical people over at Drooz Studio have offered to donate a Tiny Tiara (click here to zoom there!) So be ready to start your bidding. Every little Princess in your life should have one of these keepsakes!

Thank you Shelly so much for your wonderful donation! It's people like you who make this town so special!

A Big Huge Thank You!!

Skaneateles Office Supply
36 Jordan Road (Byrne Dairy Building)
685 - 7740
Copy center, fax service, office supplies, school supplies and more.

Skaneateles Office Supply has generously donated the copies for our donation letters! This would have been a very large cost and they kindly helped our team out in such a huge way! We can't thank you enough!

Please stop in the Office Supply on Jordan Road, in the Byrne Dairy Building and check them out! Not only is it convenient, but they are so friendly and helpful!! And truly, they have great stuff for reasonable prices!

Thank you very much!

Ootm...The video that explains it all!

I have recently been browsing the Official Odyssey of the Mind website! It has been very helpful to me. I sometimes have a hard time explaining, without going into very lengthy details, what exactly Ootm is! To family members or friends far away, who have never heard of the program, it is really difficult to articulate the greatness of it! (At least for me it is;)

I stumbled across this great video, that just explained it all. Simply click here and with the magic of the internet, you will be zooomed to their official website! Click on the watch video, sit back and take a few moments to watch it. I promise you, it's worth it!

What exactly is spontaneous???

I've never really had a good grasp on what the spontaneous part of Ootm is, because as you may all know...When you ask the team what they did for spontaneous...You most likely will get the reply: "Sorry, can't talk about it!" or "We're not allowed to discuss it!" (In a very secret agent sort of way;) Hopefully, this will take some of the mystery out of it! And it's also fun to try yourself! Now just picture yourself trying to answer these questions, while sitting in front of an Official Ootm judge, with a GIANT BANANA on his head... Animal Rhymes Your problem is to make a rhyme using a name or species of an animal. For example, you might say, "I think mice are nice" or "There's a cat in the hat." The Full Problem

Be Patient Your problem is to pretend you are a patient in an operating room and you hear noises and conversation. Say what you would like to hear or what you would not like to hear. You must begin each response with "I would like to hear . . ." or "I would not like to hear . . . ." The Full Problem

Cantilever Structure You are to build a structure of toothpicks and clay that will sit on a table behind a boundary line. The structure will cantilever, or stick out, as far as possible beyond the boundary line without touching the table surface. The Full Problem

Names Your problem is: Use a word or words to make a first and last name. You must relate this name to an occupation. The Full Problem

Omer In The Basket Your problem is to say something about the photograph of Omer in a basket. The Full Problem

Something In Common Your problem is to name two things that have something in common and what it is they have in common. The Full Problem

Tower of Pasta You have 7 minutes to make a structure that will be scored on height and strength. The Full Problem

Tug o War Make links for chains and see how long they last in a Tug O' War. The Full Problem

Names and Occupations Your problem is: Use a word or words to make a first and last name. You must relate this name to an occupation. The Full Problem

Twinkle Thing Something's been found from the planet Twinkle. What could it be? The Full Problem Text copied from official Odyssey of the Mind site. Odyssey of the Mind, the Odyssey of the Mind logo, and OMER are federally registered trademarks of Creative Competitions, Inc. ©copyright 2006 Creative Competitions, Inc

Tag em' Division II

Here is the Tag em' team. This was taken right after Spontaneous! They are looking pretty confident!

Here they are again, after presenting their long-term problem!

The kids went out with all the confidence in the world. They decided apparently before the presentation, that they would NOT let their nerves get to them! However, us in the audience...Were nervous enough for them! They really did great!

This is the winning team! Their smiles say it all!

Moving on to World Finals!

Problem 1: Tag 'em
Divisions I, II, III & IV
The team's problem is to design, build, and run one, two, or three small vehicles that will make trips and get "tagged" within a Tagging Zone for score. The team will create tags and a system to remotely place them onto the vehicle. To receive maximum score for a trip, a vehicle will have one tag successfully placed on it and will continue traveling into a Home Area. The team will present a performance that incorporates the running and tagging of the vehicle.

Skaneateles Middle School Division II team A:
Hunter
Matthew
Chelsea
Daniel
Dylan
Coach: Chandler

They competed at the Regional level at Auburn High school and won First Place.

They competed at the State level at Binghamton University and won Second Place, out of 16 teams. Which then qualified them to attend the World Competition at Michigan State University.

****************************************************************************************************************************************

Problem 5: I'm Only Thinking Of You!
Divisions I, II, III & IV
For this problem, teams will create and present an original humorous performance that includes a Self-Centered Character (SCC) and a surprise. The SCC will take advantage of others three separate times. Two of the three times it will successfully convince others that it is being helpful and will say, "I'm only thinking of you," or something similar. The third time it will fail to deceive others into believing that its self-centered behavior helps them and its true nature is revealed.

Skaneateles State Street Division I Team B:
Jeffrey
Zachary
Kelsey
Benny
Camille
Cobly
Jonathan
Coaches: Janet and Kim

They competed at the Regional level at Auburn High school and won First Place.

They competed at the State level at Binghamton University and won Second Place out of 15. Which then qualified them to also compete at Michigan State University for World Finals!

***************************************************************************************************************************************

These teams are most excited and we all have a big job ahead of us!!

The state finals were on March 31st and from that moment the kids will be on the ride of their young lives!

So much to do...So little time! We have 53 days from the day they won! But the parents meeting wasn't until April 4th....So already we have only 48 days left...And you can take one week out of that, because of Spring Break! Wooo! Can we do it?? Oh I have no doubts that it can be achieved! Just being a part of the first parents meeting and knowing most of the kids...I know it can be done!!

What do we have to do, you ask??

The budget for the trip is approximately $15,000.00! The money that is raised by the team will be used to pay for the team and the coaches. Any family members who wish to go to the World competition will have to pay their own way.

We do this by donation letters and a huge FUNdraising Extravaganza! The kids also will also come up with small ideas of their own! Any little bit helps!

Team pictures..Feeling already like celebrities!

Today April 5th, 2007, our two teams take their team photos. They are donned with their team shirts, medals and trophies.

I am sure they are feeling like Kings and Queens of the world right about now!

They also received very official invitations to be recognized at the board meeting. From the desk of Philip D'Angelo, Superintendent of Schools. The kids must contact his secretary to confirm they will be attending. (A very big deal for them, indeed!)

There has been many articles and pictures in newspapers already, this is truly a special time for these great kids!

What is Ootm?

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.

What makes Odyssey different?
Odyssey of the Mind is a competitive program, but it's nothing like your typical sporting event. The competitive element encourages kids to be the best that they can be, but it's a friendly competition. Kids learn from and even cheer on their competitors. Odyssey of the Mind is not a college bowl or a competition about knowledge. It's all about creativity, an often overlooked element in the growth and development of many students. Kids are rewarded more for how they apply their knowledge, skills and talents, and not for coming up with the right answer. In fact, in Odyssey of the Mind problems, there isn't one right answer. Ever.

How do students benefit from participation?
In Odyssey of the Mind, students learn at a young age skills that will last a lifetime. They work in teams so they learn cooperation and respect for the ideas of others. They evaluate ideas and make decisions on their own, gaining greater self-confidence and increased self-esteem along the way. They work within a budget, so they learn to manage their money. They see that there�s often more than one way to solve a problem, and that sometimes the process is more important than the end result.

How does it work?

Schools or community groups purchase a membership and form teams of up to seven students. Each team chooses one of five competitive problems to solve. The problems appeal to a wide range of interests; some are technical in nature, while others are artistic or performance-oriented. Under the guidance of an adult coach, teams work on their solutions throughout the school year and, if they choose, present them in organized competitions in the spring. The "friendly" competitive aspect encourages students to be the best that they can be.

What are the competition levels?
In the U.S., the first level of competition is usually within a region of a state. Teams who place are invited to compete at the state level. These championship teams are then invited to participate in the annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, where they compete with teams from countries around the world, including Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. New countries join the program each year.

How are teams judged in competition?
Thousands of volunteers from around the world judge the competitions and serve in various positions to help make the tournaments a success. Teams are scored for their long-term problem solution, how well they solve a "spontaneous" problem on the spot, and "style" -- the elaboration of their long-term problem solution.

Who runs the Odyssey of the Mind?
Not-for-profit organizations administer the Odyssey of the Mind program in each participating U.S. state and country. Each organization is run by a local Association Director. The organizations are licensed by Creative Competitions, Inc. (CCI), which provides all of the problems and materials necessary to run training sessions and tournaments.

How did Odyssey of the Mind get its start?
Odyssey of the Mind was created by Dr. C. Samuel Micklus, Professor Emeritus at Rowan University in New Jersey. In 1978, 28 New Jersey schools participated in the very first creative problem-solving competition ever. "Dr. Sam" still develops all problems for the program, along with his son, Sammy, President of CCI.


Text copied from official Odyssey of the Mind site.
Odyssey of the Mind, the Odyssey of the Mind logo, and OMER are federally registered trademarks of Creative Competitions, Inc.

©copyright 2006 Creative Competitions, Inc