Legacy Traditional School - Gilbert invited to Odyssey of the Mind World Finals
Local students will face more than 800 of top OM teams from around the globe
A team of students from Legacy Traditional School – Gilbert has earned a rare invitation to the 37th annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals later this spring. The exceptional feat comes in just the third year of competition for the Odyssey of the Mind squad from LTS-Gilbert.
“I could not be more thrilled for what our students have accomplished,” said LTS-Gilbert Principal Valerie Merrill. “Our team's performance demonstrates we are developing future engineers, scientists and business leaders, and proves our accelerated, ‘A-rated’ program holds its own against any STEM- geared school. We are excited to see how our LTS-Gilbert students will stack up against the world and we know they will make us all proud.”
Town of Gilbert Mayor John Lewis commended the LTS-Gilbert team, and will be visiting the school on May 5 to congratulate the students in-person.
“I would like to congratulate the Legacy Traditional School’s Odyssey of the Mind team for making it to the World Finals this spring,” said Mayor Lewis. “I am proud to have these students represent Gilbert and wish them the best of luck.”
The LTS-Gilbert team earned the World Finals invitation as a result of earning the highly-coveted Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award at the Odyssey of the Mind state championships in Tucson last weekend. The award is the highest honor in the Odyssey of the Mind program, given to teams or individuals that demonstrate an outstanding level of creative problem-solving. Any team that earns the Renatra Fusca Creativity Award receives an automatic bid to the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.
At the World Finals, the LTS-Gilbert students will face more than 800 teams, including representatives from Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and almost every state in the U.S. The World Finals will be May 25- 28, 2016, in Ames, Iowa.
"The majority of the team has been together for the past three years and their level of team work, creativity and dedication truly shows,” said Shakima Brown, LTS-Gilbert’s Gifted Program teacher, and head coach of the school’s Odyssey of the Mind team. “The team experimented with tons of different structures, role-played hundreds of times and demonstrated the critical thinking skills necessary to be successful in life. The thousands of hours this team sacrificed over the past eight months preparing for this year's competition paid off in a big way.”
Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition. For more than 25 years, this program has encouraged students from around the world to use imaginative thinking and work together as a team in resolving problems and challenges. The skills learned through this process stay with participants for a lifetime. Area businesses are asked to help support the LTS-Gilbert team as it proudly represents Arizona at the World Finals. Sponsors are currently being sought to help defray the team's travel expenses. As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, donations may be tax-deductible. For more information, contact Valerie Merrill at (480) 397-9260 or [email protected].
###