POCONO SUMMIT, PA — The ultimate children’s creative problem-solving competition is back on Saturday, February 25. It’s open to the public, and there’s no charge to attend.

What’s happening? Students from across northeast Pennsylvania, including teams from the Delaware Valley School District in Milford, will put their heads together for the 2023 NEPA Odyssey of the Mind Regional Tournament. Nearly 350 students from 25 schools will go head-to-head at Pocono Mountain West High School.

Odyssey of the Mind teams spend the school year designing a solution to provided “problems,” and will present those solutions at competitions held around the world each spring.

All elements of each team’s solution must be original creations by the students. Their creations must accomplish goals within specific guidelines, and keep to a strict budget.

“It’s an incredible program that pushes children to think outside the box, while nurturing real-world skills across every academic and artistic discipline,” said Ryan Balton, who volunteers as the program’s public relations director. “We add an ‘a’ to make STEM into STEAM—incorporating the arts into the science, technology, engineering [and] mathematics skill-building activities.”

Students are tasked this year with building ride-on pirate ships, designing Rube Goldberg devices, testing the strength of balsa-wood structures with barbell weights, and telling dramatic stories about dinosaurs and myths from ancient Greece. Teams also receive a secret spontaneous problem on the day of the competition, which they must solve on the spot.

Here in Pennsylvania, every aspect of the program is run entirely by volunteers.

“This tournament couldn’t happen without the time, energy, and dedication of the many volunteers,” said Mary Beth Adelman, NEPA regional director, who’s a volunteer herself. “Special thanks to all coaches, who guide, nurture, and give the students opportunities to reach beyond themselves; to the judges, whose thoughtful evaluations encourage excellence; to our board members, who work out the many details and logistics; and to the Pocono Mountain staff who make our competition possible.”

The Pocono Mountain School District will host the NEPA regional tournament, for the 13th time since 2009. Parents or educators interested in starting a team next school year can email grants@paodyssey.com, and visit paodyssey.com/grants for more information about the PA Odyssey of the Mind Jumpstart Grants.

Top performers at the regional tournament will advance to the Pennsylvania state finals at Lock Haven University on Saturday, April 1. Those state finalists will compete for the chance to represent northeast Pennsylvania at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at Michigan State University in May.

“Our area has some of the best Odyssey of the Mind competitors in the world every year,” said Balton, who participated as a student throughout the early 2000s. “Our students’ display of creativity and teamwork is more impressive than ever.”

The NEPA region includes Wayne and Pike counties, as well as Bradford, Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Schuylkill, Susquehanna and Wyoming.

Learn more about NEPA Odyssey of the Mind at www.nepaootm.com or www.facebook.com/nepaootm. You can find PA Odyssey of the Mind at www.paodyssey.com.