Three Riverview Teams Move on to Odyssey of the Mind State Championships

Several Riverview School District students will be competing in the Pocono Mountains next month.

Riverview sent 10 teams to the Western Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind Regional Tournament at Moon High School last weekend—three are moving on to the state championships on April 14.  

According to the program's website, Odyssey of the Mind is is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members 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. 

Two teams moving on to the state championships are from and one is from .

One team moving on is a team of Tenth Street third-graders coached by Dianna Wyrick. They performed a skit based on the Shakespeare classic “Hamlet.” Their team had the highest score for performance in their problem in their Division (Grades 3 to 5). When combined with the other scores in the competition, “Team Wyrick” earned a second place finish. This was their first year participating competitavely.  Team members are: Peter Wyrick, Eleni Wyrick, Olivia Rossi, Lauren Hornsby, Ava Cherry, Alexis Sykes and Dominic Scassera.

The other Tenth Street team that performed well was the fifth/sixth grade vehicle problem team. This team created a vehicle that used two forms of propulsion, changed appearance four times, moved in reverse and had a special effect. All of these elements were showcased in a creative performance. This team, coached by Catherine Hornsby, placed first in their Division (sixth to eighth grades) for their problem.  

"What makes this even more impressive is that half of the team is only in fifth grade and could have competed in the lower division; however, the fifth-graders moved up to Division II in order to work with the sixth grade members and stay together as a team," Hornsby said. 

This is the second year in a row that members of “Team Hornsby” have won their Division in the vehicle problem. Team members are: Celaine Hornsby, Grace Ison, Lara Pietz, Sean Abraham, Ben Barnes, Patrick Scott and Michael Gemmel.

The final team moving on to the state championships is the Riverview Jr/Sr. High school team. This team competed in a problem that involved creating a structure made of Balsa wood that would have to support a series of weights placed on the structure. In addition to the structure, they had to perform a skit that involved a "machine" that performed a mathematical function. This team, coached by Janet Rossi, also placed first in their problem for their Division.

Team members from "Team Rossi" are: Brian Rossi, Paul Dozzi, Ben Rushin, Erin Smith, Lena Ison and Tyler Aber.

"All teams, regardless of whether or not they are advancing to the state championship, have learned valuable lessons and life skills such as presenting in front of a group, working within a team environment, creative writing or how to use a drill," Hornsby said. "We want to congratulate all of the teams for their hard work and dedication as well as wish the regional winners good luck in the state championships."

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