Odyssey of the Mindis an international creative competition that’s been around since the late 1970s that gets students to work together to solve problems, and build confidence and cooperation skills. Local schools compete, with the winners moving on to regional competitions, and it all culminates every year at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. During this year’s finals in Ames, Iowa, Big Cypress Elementary School in Collier County was recognized as the sole winner from the entire world for their Odyssey Angels Project.
The focus of Odyssey Angels projects is to find a way to make a positive change in their own community, and to then pass that project along to others to take home and use in their own neighborhoods. The Big Cypress team’s project taught people how to make sleeping mats for homeless people. They ran a booth for three days during the World Finals to teach other teams the process. We’re joined by one of the team members, Oen Frost, and the coaches Kristi Oen and Justin Messier, who also happen to be his parents.
