Congratulations to the three St. John Neumann Odyssey of the Mind teams that earned first place yesterday at the Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind tournament at Williamsport Area HS. They have qualified to represent our Academy and the state of Pennsylvania at the 2010 Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI in May.  The teams are:

 

Nature Trail’R, Division I, first place. Team members: Adriana Barone, Bridget Foresman, Natalie Kolczynski, Bianca Lilley, Adali Matz, David Montis and Kendra Snyder. Coaches: Kathy Bahr and Keith Bauer.

 

Food Court, Division I, first place. Team members: Marilyn Hiller, Jessica Mattiace, Christine McFadden, Shayna McNamee, Amanda Southard, Emily Walter, Ryenn Yearick. Coaches: Bret and Denise Southard.

 

Return to the Gift of Flight, Division III, first place. Team members: Adam Bahr, Katie Bahr, Doug Hasko, Lakeisha James, John Mattiace, JoAnne Murphy and Phillip Trometter. Coaches: Kathy Bahr, Keith Bauer, Jeff Trometter.

 

In addition, the SJNRA "Return to the Gift of Flight" team also earned the coveted Ranatra Fusca Award for demonstrating exceptional creativity in the engineering of their aircraft and propulsion systems, and in their improvisational skills. The Ranatra Fusca Award is the highest award given in Odyssey of the Mind, and allows a team that wins it to advance to World Finals, regardless of their placement in the competition. It is not awarded for the highest score, but rather for exceptional creativity in solving the long-term problem. This award serves as an incentive for risk-taking and out-of-the-box thinking for Odyssey participants. Our team and school name will be added to a large trophy that is displayed every year at the Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind tournament. This is the first time in our Catholic school’s 20+ years of participation in Odyssey of the Mind that one of our teams earned this prestigious award. Congratulations to the "Return to the Gift of Flight" team!