Three of the Long Beach Public Schools’ Odyssey of the Mind teams earned top results in the virtual State competition and have qualified for World finals. Two groups from Long Beach Middle School won first and second place in their division and an elementary team placed second as well.

Each group took on a different challenge. The first place winners, who worked on the “Super Socks” problem, included middle school students Sydney Bergstein, Aaron Blau, Shane Haglich, Jordan Soriano, Mia Rose Techera, Aaliyah Trichter and Sebastian Triola. The middle school’s second place team completed the “OMER and the Beanstalk” problem and is comprised of Isabelle DePalma, Catherine Maguire, Marin Meola, Lucinda Nash, Kate Ragona and Kasper Yanowitch.

The second place elementary group, which solved “Problem 2: A Virtual Odyssey,” included Nathan Bregman, Emilio Diaz, Patrick Maguire, Sofia Milito, Calie Spitz, Jackson Spitz and Maximo Vitolo. Two other elementary squads did an excellent job as well. Maven Aull, Maya Cohen, Bianca Leible, Max Mason,  Shayna Tozer,  Christopher Montoya, Katherine O' Brein took on “Problem 3: Classics…OMER and the Beanstalk” and placed fourth, while Charlotte DePalma, Arlo Fox, Victor Zolley, Jack Biancamano, Colby Donaldson and Brooklyn Quigley came in eighth place for “Problem 5: Super Hero Socks.”

Middle school teams were coached by Susan Kasper and Douglas MacConnell, and the elementary students were coached by Mr. McConnell and Justin Sulsky.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international competition that provides its participants the opportunity to solve defined problems using a predetermined set of rules for the team to follow. Participants were required to write skits, create costumes and scenery, and perform an 8-minute skit according to the guidelines. The World level will feature students from each state and more than 20 different countries.