There is a special group of kids that need our help!
A team from Malta Avenue Elementary School has made the World Championships of Odyssey of the Mind, which is an international competition that teaches problem-solving skills through students’ natural creativity. Teams choose from a list of open-ended problems and solve one of them through a theatrical sketch and engineering solutions using only low-cost or recycled materials. Each team must solve a second problem on the spot while competing, of which they have no prior knowledge.
The Ballston Spa team is made up of a roller-skating robot, a banana-selling monkey, a three-foot-tall bug, a mustachioed narrator, and even a combo Santa-Frankenstein-turkey guy on the team and they range in age from six to eleven years old, grades first through 5th.
This is the first time in four years that a team from Ballston Spa has advanced to the World Finals, and the first-ever time that a division-one team has achieved such an honor.
Team members include:
Arlo Harrison, First Grade
Roebling Harrison, Third Grade
Anthony Sorbero, Fourth Grade
Max DeMeritt, Fourth Grade
Alex DeFabio, Fifth Grade
The Malta Avenue Elementary School team is currently raising funds for their trip to Iowa in May. With an end goal of $15,000 to cover transportation, shipment of props, costumes, and sets, and room and board. You can contribute to the GoFundMe here.