NNPS teams excel at Regional Odyssey of the Mind competition
Posted: March 18, 2025
An Achievable Dream Academy, McIntosh Elementary School, Yates Elementary School, B.T. Washington Middle School and Warwick High School each earned top honors for their outstanding performances at the 2025 Regional Odyssey of the Mind Tournament on March 15 at Menchville High School.
Warwick and B. T. Washington will advance to compete at the Virginia State Odyssey of the Mind Tournament at Menchville on April 26.
This year, Newport News Public Schools welcomed teams from across the Commonwealth of Virginia as it hosted a combined tournament for Region 4 (Piedmont), Region 6 (Tidewater/Hampton Roads) and Region 10 (Rappahannock).
Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition that challenges students to think innovatively and work collaboratively. The international creative problem-solving competition challenges students to develop innovative solutions to complex problems.
Teams work together over several months to tackle long-term problems that incorporate engineering, artistic design and storytelling. Along the way, participants strengthen their critical and creative thinking, teamwork, time management and presentation skills.
Teams collaborate to tackle one of six long-term problems and also participate in a spontaneous competition.
In Problem 3, Cooking with Books, classic cooking took on a new meaning as teams created a performance about an original chef character that is inspired by fictional literary characters and events. Teams chose from selected classic literature and created a gourmet meal based on their chosen book. Yates, coached by Susan Kirkpatrick and Elizabeth Schley, placed 2nd; An Achievable Dream Academy, coached by Sara Betzold, placed 3rd and Warwick, coached by Aja Bradley, placed 2nd.
In Problem 5, AstronOMical Odyssey, teams created a humorous performance set in a team-created "historical" civilization that presented constellations and original stories explaining each one. McIntosh, coached by Lolita Clark placed 2nd and B. T. Washington, coached by Laura Nelson-Rogers, placed 1st.
