Novato Elementary School Competes In World ‘Odyssey’ Finals

NOVATO, CA – A Novato elementary school just started competing in a problem-solving contest less than three years ago, and Loma Verde’s students have shown themselves to be quick studies.

The school sent two teams last month to the Odyssey of the Mind World Championships, which were held virtually.

Team Balsa and Team Vehicle qualified for the World Championships out of the April 19 NorCal Section Championships.

Team Balsa, which was tasked to design and build a structure out of only balsa wood and glue, took first place in the NorCal championships and placed 23rd out of 28 Division I elementary school-level teams at the World Championships.

Team Vehicle, which was tasked to design, build and operate one or more vehicles, placed second at the NorCals and finished 37th out of 41 Division I elementary school-level teams at the world championships.

The vehicles were scored on their propulsion systems and for traveling and completing different tasks.

The program’s success especially impressive considering it just completed its third year. When the program launched in the 2018-2019 school year it had just one team. This year it fielded five.

Team Balsa’s “It’s a Trap!” created a 15-gram structure that held 115 pounds. The winning Division I Balsa structure at the Word Championships held 678 pounds.

The Balsa Team will likely remain intact at the middle school level and figures to be a strong candidate to return to the World Championships, Karen McCormish, a Loma Verde teacher who heads the program said.

“It was a difficult year to keep the enthusiasm up and keep paying constant attention to all of the details for OM, but I am extremely proud of these kids!” McCormish said.

“They pushed themselves to keep creating, keep improving, keep pulling members back into a collaborative effort.”