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P.S. 115 Students Continue A Unique Odyssey
Four years ago, P.S. 115 was the first school in New York City to participate in the Odyssey of the Mind program. The school's principal, Mitchell Pinsky, initiated the program after learning about it from his children who participate in it at their Long Island school. It began as volunteer teachers ran a small experimental after-school program open to all grades and for the first two years as a club, and teams competed at the school level only. "The initial concept was successful," Pinsky recently said, "and we had a large number of kids and teachers participating." The principal, along with some teachers and parents, subsequently visited regional competitions on Long Island "to give ourselves a better sense of what the program looked like." Pinsky established connections with the New York State director and was asked to become the New York City regional director. Pat Gill and Jayne Sclavos, both teachers at P.S. 115, were trained as coaches and have helped Pinksy spread Odyssey to other Brooklyn schools. Recently, P.S. 236, IS 234, and Bushwick Leaders High School have participated in the program. For more than 25 years, Odyssey of the Mind has taught students to learn creative problem-solving methods by providing open-ended problems that appeal to a wide range of interests. Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve those problems. Some of the problems are more technical in nature while others are artistic or performance based, and problems are solved over weeks and months. Students are encouraged to freely express their ideas without fear of criticism. By tapping into creativity, and through encouraging imaginative paths to problem solving, students learn skills that will provide them with the ability to solve problems for a lifetime. During competition, teams present their solutions and are given one on-the-spot "spontaneous" problems to solve. During the last school year, Pinsky became Odyssey's director of Region 1. As a result, P.S. 115 hosted the first regional tournament during which two teams from the school placed first in their divisions and advanced to the state level in Binghamton, earning first and fourth places in their competitions. The first place team advanced to the 2006 World Finals in Ames, Iowa, which included over 800 teams from across the country and around the world. P.S. 115's team was awarded fourth place in their division's 57-team competition, which Pinsky called "a very impressive accomplishment" considering it was their first year participating. At the world finals, each team is assigned a buddy team, which cements bonds among the international participants as they share meals and socialize. Last year, P.S. 115's buddy team was from China. Pinsky recalled, "In essence our kids held their hands because it was intimidating for the Chinese team due to the language barrier. Even though they didn't speak English, they were still able to communicate with each other. It made the experience enriching for both teams." The second annual New York City/Long Island competition was held on March 2. Two P.S. 115 teams placed first in their divisions. Both teams went on to compete at the state contest in Binghamton three weeks later where, for the second year in a row, one P.S. 115 team earned a spot in the upcoming world finals May 23-26 at Michigan State University. That team also received the prestigious Ranatra Award given to one team in each division for showing outstanding and unusual creativity. Coach Gill states that the kids brainstorm, put a script together, and build a set, while placing particular focus on making their project unique since teams gain points for creativity. "The kids have a great commitment and work on their projects after school and on Saturdays. We start recruiting at the end of September, and the kids work through February on their projects." She said, "The kids develop skills and interests that they didn't know they had, and parents are pleased when their children discover creative instincts they didn't know they had." In addition to the hard work and intensive efforts by the students and coaches, P.S. 115 has also excelled in such a short time because Mitch Pinsky's unique passion and belief are evident when he talks about Odyssey of the Mind.
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