A team of Moon Area High School students and of Middle School students recently competed in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.
The teams joined more than 825 teams from around the world that participated May 22-26 at Michigan State University in the international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students.
The high school team won 11th place after competing against 54 countries around the world. It was their first attempt at competing in the high school division.
The team consisted of Rachael Melton, Dalton Pritt, Steven Ellis, Natalie Melton, Allison Ulven, Lexie Ulven and Jonathon Muise, and was coached by Angela Melton and Debra Ulven.
The team earned the right to compete at the World Finals after placing second at the OM Regional Tournament in March and advanceing from the State Finals held at Pocono Mountain School District in April.
The middle school team placed 22nd out of 56 teams in the finals.
The team is comprised of Jenna Puhalla, Riley Graham, Ashley Safranek, Madison Foster, Olivia Estright, Anthony Testa and Alek Kuzniarski, and was coached by Lisa Puhalla, Kelly Graham and Joy Foster.
The middle school team advanced to the finals after competing at the regional competition in March and earning second place for solving the “Pet Project” problem for Division II. The middle school team advanced and took first place in the state finals.
At the finals, the high school team received great scores during the “It’s How You Look at It” problem, which was solved by building a structure where teammate Rachael Melton walked onto the set suspended upside down. The team also built a hologram-like structure displaying stars in the night sky during their rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
The Middle School team invented three vehicles that navigated an obstacle course while being propelled by electricity, wind and gravity.
Both the middle and high school teams built a float sponsored by Lowe's representing Pennsylvania, which was one of the winners in the float and banner parade.
The finals were held at Michigan State University on May 22-26. The Odyssey of the Mind, an international educational program, provides creative problem solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Over 800 teams from the U.S. and more than 20 other countries participated in the program this year.
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