St. John’s Odyssey of the Mind headed to World Finals

BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – A team made up of local first, third and fifth graders are traveling to Iowa for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.

Students at Saint John the Evangelist School in Binghamton successfully placed in the regional and state competitions of Odyssey of the Mind and are now headed to worlds.

The group is the only team from Broome County to make it to the finals this year.

The students had to create a skit under 8 minutes long that fits the theme of “Open night antics,” where the opening night of a play goes horribly wrong.

The students started writing their scripts, and crafting the sets back in October, without any help from the parents.

Student Clara Swierk says the team is very excited for the over 14-hour journey to Iowa.

5th Grader at Saint John the Evangelist School, Clara Swierk says, “There is different teams from all over the world that you can like “buddy team” with. So, we got a team from South Korea, and we’re going to bring them some stuff from Binghamton and they’re going to bring us some stuff from South Korea.”

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar stopped by St. John’s this morning to present the students with a proclamation, declaring today, May 9th, as Saint John’s Odyssey of the Mind Day.

The world finals will run from May 21st through the 24th

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