One Newtown Odyssey of the Mind Team is gearing up for World Finals next month, and it is raising money to compete in the next stage of the creative problem-solving competition.

The group of seventh and eighth graders have mostly been competing together since they were in third and fourth grade. This will be the first time at the world level competition for the students, and they are excited. The team is coached by Kerri Jackson and Carolina Castellano.

According to Odyssey of the Mind, odysseyofthemind.com, it is an international, “creative problem-solving program that engages students in their learning by allowing their knowledge and ideas to come to life in an exciting, productive environment. Participants build self-confidence, develop life skills, create new friendships, and are able to recognize and explore their true potential.”

To earn a place at the World Finals, which will be held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., May 22 to 25, teams first competed at state levels of the competition. Connecticut’s competition was held on March 16 at Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven. A team from Reed Intermediate School, coached by Deb Sullivan and Kris Powers, came in fourth in its division in the state level of the competition. The NMS Odyssey of the Mind team came in first in its division, earning a place at World Finals. The NMS team also won the 2019 Jill Riggles Award for Excellence in Spontaneous.

Students on the team are eighth grader Emily Jackson, seventh grader Paige Jackson, eighth grader Olivia Guizzo, eighth grader Brooke Kinsey, eighth grader Eleanor Glassman, and seventh grader Grant Ricks.

In order to fund the team’s trip to World Finals, there are plans to sell Maple Craft Foods syrup at Newtown’s 12th annual Earth Day Festival and celebration, set for Saturday, April 27, at NMS on Queen Street from 10 am to 4 pm. More information about the entire Earth Day Festival is available online at newtownearthday.org. Maple Craft Foods also set up a way for people to donate to the team through its website, maplecraftfoods.com/odyssey, by buying its products. Maple Craft Foods is donating 40 percent of product costs to the team’s travel expenses.

The team also set up a GoFundMe account called “Newtown Middle School Odyssey of Mind” on gofundme.com. The team’s goal is to raise $8,000 to fund attending World Finals.

Ms Jackson said two of the team’s parents, who are physical therapists, also plan to offer chair massages at the April 27 Earth Day Festival for donations to the team’s efforts.

Looking back at attending the competition’s state level last month, Paige said, “It’s really exciting the day of. Competing is fun.”

Eleanor said the few minutes before competing can be nerve-wracking. Last minute repairs to props can happen, and team members offer words of encouragement to one another.

“There’s a lot of work that we put into it. We’ve been [working on] this since October,” said Eleanor.

Overall, attending the state competition was a mix of “scary and fun,” according to Olivia.

Ms Jackson said her team has always wanted to attend World Finals, and the last five years of competing is now “paying off.”