Ballston Spa schools headed to Odyssey of the Mind World Championships

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — This May, for the first time in over 30 years, two teams from Ballston Spa are headed to the World Championships of Odyssey of the Mind in Ames, Iowa., the school district announced.

The teams from Malta Avenue Elementary School and Ballston Spa Middle School are not like most school teams, the release said. When they suit up for competition they look like a chicken, an egg, a medieval king, a wizard, a mealworm or a squire — even Colonel Sanders and the aviatrix Amelia Egghart.

One team lands on the scene in a cardboard spaceship called the Chicken Ship. The other team tests a space alien to see if he is a witch. Both teams pile heavy weights on top of their fragile balsa wood creation just to discover how long it takes to crush it. It’s all part of a challenge that combines engineering and theatricality.

This year their puzzles had the theme of Deep Space. But their “Eggstraordinary” creativity, the release said, and magical problem solving was what it took for these kids ages eight to 13 to pick up the second place trophy in each of their divisions at the State Finals in Syracuse last week. That win moves the teams forward to compete in the World Championship.

Despite their young ages, for some team members, this will be their second trip to Worlds, the release said and for others, it is their third time in three years. In the past, they have competed with teams from Japan, France, Poland, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Germany and more than 30 of the United States.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international competitive program where teams choose from a list of open-ended problems and solve one of them through a combination of an original theatrical sketch performance and engineering solutions using only low-cost or recycled materials, the release said. Each team must also solve a second spontaneous problem during competition of which they have no advance knowledge.

A total of five district teams represented the district at the state tournament:

Milton Terrace Elementary placed 4th in Problem 2: AI Tech-No-Art

Milton Terrace Elementary placed 5th in Problem 5: Rocking World Detour

Malta Avenue Elementary placed 16tth in Problem 5: Rocking World Detour

The members on the teams going to the World Finals range from third to seventh graders.

The Problem 4 “Deep Space” Division One team from Malta Ave.

Ava Sorbero, Fourth Grade — Second trip to Worlds

Arlo Harrison, Third Grade — Third trip to Worlds

Roebling Harrison, Fifth Grade — Third trip to Worlds

Bryson Skanes, Fifth Grade — 1st year at Worlds

Darren Vinson, Fifth Grade — 1st year at Worlds

Marlayna Goman, Fifth Grade — 1st year at Worlds

Liam Caleb Yabut, Fifth Grade — 1st year at Worlds

Coaches: Jennifer Sorbero and Angela Harrison

The Problem 4 “Deep Space” Division Two team from BSMS

Anthony Sorbero, Sixth Grade — Third trip to Worlds

Maxwell DeMeritt, Sixth Grade — Third trip to Worlds

Alex DeFabio, Seventh Grade — Second trip to Worlds

Danny Heggen, Sixth Grade — Second trip to Worlds

Adam Loomis, Sixth Grade — Second trip to Worlds

Coaches: Angela DeMeritt and Tina DeFabio

They are currently hosting fundraisers to help fund the teams’ travel to Iowa in May. Donate at their GoFundMe page here: gofund.me/c14126c1. And follow the teams on Instagram @ballstonspaOM