SRDS Teams Qualify for States in Odyssey of the Mind Competition

Aligning with the Saddle River Day School’s mission to encourage students to be intellectual risk takers, SRDS has established Middle and and Upper School Odyssey of the Mind teams this year under the leadership of Science Department Chair, Anastasia Kelly and Middle School Math teacher, Keith Hickey. The Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving program for students ranging in age from kindergarten through college that engages students in their learning by allowing their knowledge and ideas to come to life in an exciting, productive, hands-on environment. Students work on teams to solve long-term "problems" creatively, with opportunities for brainstorming and teamwork, innovation and design thinking.

The Odyssey of the Mind Regional Competition took place yesterday in Branchburg, NJ, where teams were presented with a specific long-term problem that they needed to present a solution for. Although teams may practice techniques for solving spontaneous problems leading up to OotM competitions, they do not know the problem ahead of time. Our teams spent the day working on solutions and presenting their solutions to the problem. The Upper School earned a First Place and the Middle School, a Second Place, and will be moving on to the State Competition in April. Congratulations to all!

Innovative experiences outside of the traditional classroom setting continue to be one hallmark of an SRDS education. These experiences enhance the overall learning process at SRDS and prepare students for success in college and in real life.