Long Beach Middle School students made the district and community proud in the virtual World Finals during the weekend of May 29. Teams placed third and sixteenth out of contenders from across the globe, and will now advance to the in-person World Finals competition on June 11 in Orlando, Florida.

The third place team, Super Socks, is comprised of Sydney Bergstein, Aaliyah Trichter, Mia Techera, Jordan Soriano, Shane Hagelich, Aaron Blau and Sebastian Tricola. The group also received an OMER award for exemplifying the Odyssey of the Mind spirit. Fairy Tale Squad, which was ranked No. 16, consists of Isabelle De Palma, Kasper Yanowich, Marin Meola, Cathy Maquire, Lucy Nash and Kate Ragona.

The Long Beach students, coached by Susan Kasper and Douglas MacConnell, were up against teams from throughout the United States and more than 20 countries. 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.