Hazlet wins big in Odyssey of the Mind contest

By elaine van develde
Staff Writer

HAZLET — They won big in the state competition and they’re going to the world finals.

That’s what happened when Hazlet students competed in the Odyssey of the Mind 2003 state competition at South Brunswick schools last month.

Five teams, 35 students in all, came back winners. Because of the wins, this weekend, from May 28 to June 1, the students will compete in the Odyssey world finals at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

"It’s a very exciting, rewarding program," said Loretta Zimmer, Middle Road School principal and district coordinator of Odyssey of the Mind. "The contest requires creativity and thinking outside of the box. It encourages kids to strive for better and more creative things in life."

The Odyssey of the Mind competition was developed by Dr. Samuel Micklus in 1978. Micklus was a professor emeritus at Rowan University, Glassboro, where he taught technology courses from 1968 to 1991. The idea for the contest was born out of what has been touted as Micklus’ innovative, experimental teaching methods, implemented in his industrial design classes.

According to Micklus’ biographical information, he wrote "challenging problems to set a creative framework for the course, oftentimes rewarding the risk-takers whose solutions may not have worked but whose ideas were feasible and innovative."

Hazlet students take the Odyssey competition very seriously and this year was no exception. In April, they walked away from the state finals with two first-place and three second-place wins. The two first places went to teams from Hazlet Middle School and Middle Road School. The second-place designations went to teams from Lillian Drive Elementary School, Raritan High School and Hazlet Middle School.

Hazlet Middle School won for its response to "A Scene From Above." In the problem, the team was asked to design, build and run three small vehicles to transport items from an orbit area to an assembly station. The items were to be used to create a 3-D representation of Earth as seen from space. The scene could be real or imaginary, and the vehicles were to be powered in different ways, according to literature from the competition.

Lillian Drive School took home second place in the "A Scene From Above" challenge.

The Middle Road School won first for its interpretation of a problem called "Put a Spin on It." Teams were asked to "create and present an original performance about the creation of a work of great human achievement, chosen from a given list," according to competition literature.

Both Raritan High School and Hazlet Middle School won second place for their interpretation of "The Know-it-All" problem, which required them to design and build a creature with artificial intelligence.

Attending the world finals of the Odyssey competition costs about $750 per student, including lodging, food, registration and airfare, Zimmer said.

"The students worked very hard, as they do every year, to raise funds to attend the world [finals]," Zimmer said. "They held car washes, sales, and raffles."

As of Monday, said Zimmer, all costs except airfare were reimbursed, but the kids would keep raising money when they got back.

In addition to the funds the kids raised, the Board of Education donated $75 per student for the world finals, and each school’s parent teacher organization donated $100 or less.

"We’re very proud of them," Zimmer said. "Our students always do very well with Odyssey. The world finals will be a great experience. They’ll get to meet children from all over the world and get a taste of college life, too."