Odyssey of the Mind

At West Ashley Advanced Studies Magnet, teachers and faculty offer a lot of great extracurricular activities for students to be a part of. One of these many options is a club called Odyssey of the Mind. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving organization that provides opportunities for students to work in teams, solve long-term creative problems, and then present their solutions at a regional competition.
Ms. Debbie Brigman, the Gifted and Talented teacher at West Ashley ASM has been organizing Odyssey of the Mind teams for many years and this year had three teams to represent West Ashley ASM at the Odyssey of the Mind Regional Tournament.
At the regional competition, each team presented a solution to their long-term problem and participated in a spontaneous creative problem, where students are given a task to complete that they have never seen before and must work together to solve or answer it in a limited amount of time.
Each of the three teams placed in the regional tournament. One team won first place and the other two received second place finishes for their solutions. Placing first or second at an Odyssey of the Mind tournament is a qualifier for the World Finals, an international competition held in Ames, Iowa at Iowa State University.
The students are working hard to raise the money they need to pay for travel and lodging expenses for their trip to Iowa. They have organized school and community fundraisers, as well as online donation pages so friends, family, and community members can help them have this amazing experience in Iowa.