Congratulations to our OPUSD students for winning a 3 spots in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, taking place at Michigan State University on May 22-25! Over 800 teams from around the world compete in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, and we are thrilled to have so many Oak Park students make it this far!
On Saturday, March 2, nine OPUSD teams won ten awards at the Odyssey of the Mind Southern California State Tournament at UC Riverside. Four of these teams are from MCMS and advanced to compete at the State Tournament on March 23 at UC Riverside. The following 3 teams secured their spots at World Finals!
Elementary Team with students from ROES & OHES
Team Members: Kainoa Ginter, Gloria Koo, Keiona Nadig, Arnav Saxsena, Anjali Staschik
State Result: Tied 2nd place for Problem 4, Division 1 (Elementary)
Middle School Team with students from MCMS
Team Members: Jashwanth Bamidi, Matthew Horowitz, Ayan Khare, Hitkunwar Rajput, Devam Shah, Aniket Subramanian
State Result: 2nd Place for Problem 4, Division 2 (Middle School)
High School Team with students from OPHS & MCMS
Team Members: Thaen Ananda, Hana Chizzo, Harshitha Dasari, Neha Jag, Ananda Kinkaid, & Minnoli Nori
State Result: 1st place for Problem 3, Division 3 (High School)
One team from MCMS was even awarded an Odyssey Angels service award for their support of an animal sanctuary hosting horses, cats, and dogs in Malibu after they’d lost everything in the fires.
The OM program, which is in its fifth year in OPUSD, is the largest creative problem competition in the world – now in 25 countries! It is one of the STEAM initiatives sponsored by Oak Park Education Foundation. Every year since the OM program came into OPUSD, teams have scored highly and competed at the State level. Last year, a team from OPHS made it all the way to the World Finals competing against teams from Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
FUNDING OUR FUTURE
“Education is the principal agent for change for the next generations to shape a better future. An educated society will make good decisions and do the most to change income inequality. An investment in the Oak Park Education Foundation offers more than ten times the output in results. In fact, it is priceless!”
Advait Shinde, Technology Entrepreneur, Oak Park High Graduate