Odyssey of the Mind team just misses a top ten finish at world finals!
Johnstown’s Division III Odyssey of the Mind team – the Energetic Engineers – competed in the prestigious World Finals competition last weekend in Orlando, Florida. The team ended up just missing a top ten finish, coming in 11th place, out of 17 teams.
The Energetic Engineers includes tenth grade students Molly Sweeney, Trey Naselli, DJ Long, Alex DeMagistris, Tyler Hutchinson, and Bella Bermas. The team has competed together for six years, having started when they were in fifth grade. This is the third time that this particular team of students have made it to the OOTM World Finals.
Kristin Meashaw, district-wide OOTM coordinator for the Greater Johnstown School District, commended the team for their commitment to the program and their perseverance in getting through an unimaginable year.
“This year’s Odyssey of the Mind program was anything but traditional,” she said. “These students and their parents deserve a lot of credit for overcoming obstacles all year, in order to get to the World finals.”
Meashaw also said the unconventional year has provided motivation to come back even stronger for the 2021-22 school year. “I believe we will be back better than ever next school year when we will host the Region 21 competition at Johnstown Junior Senior High School,” she said. “We were set to host the event in March of 2020, but had to cancel at the last minute because of COVID. It was devastating to the kids and our school community, but it gives us incentive to really knock it out of the park this coming year.”
