index

The North Carolina Odyssey of the Mind Northern Region relies on adults for volunteer help. We welcome parents, friends, relatives, teachers or coworkers.

We especially need adult volunteers to help make our Northern Region tournament a success. We feel certain you will enjoy helping, and few volunteer opportunities directly benefit so many children in an educational program.

For information on the many volunteer positions in our region, and how you can help, please look around our site. When you are ready to volunteer, please go to the "VOLUNTEER" page

(back to top)

Parents Do’s and Don'ts:

DO-Transport the team to buy things

DONT-Suggest what to buy

DO- Transport the props

DONT- Repair props if broken in shipping

DO- Teach the team members a skill, IF the team asks, such as:

Sewing; Woodworking; Calligraphy; Art; Electronics; Engineering; Principals of simple machines; Welding

DONT- Suggest to the team which skills to use to solve a problem

DONT- Suggest to the team which skills would result in a better-looking or better functioning solution

DONT- Give the teams any ideas for their problem solution

DONT- Sew anything, paint anything, do anything to contribute to the team’s problem solution

DO- Help provide snacks

DONT- Analyze why something failed

DO- Bring spontaneous problem supplies

DONT- Expect perfection from a solution not done by adults (or from a solution done by adults, for that matter!)

DO- Help get props into the building for the Tournament, even to the staging area

DONT- Fix a broken prop or costume

DO- Open attics, closets, basements for "garage sale value" materials

DONT- Suggest what materials to get from the attic, closet or basement

DO- Provide lots of encouragement

DONT- Provide discouragement

DO- Provide a place to meet/store props

DONT- Fix anything that breaks

DO- Get everyone and everything to the Tournament

DONT- Criticize any part of a team’s solution

DO- Applaud A LOT and help get props offstage afterwards

DONT- Put emphasis on scores instead of fun!

(back to top)

What is "outside assistance"?

Guidelines from the Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide

Only the seven team members may contribute to the long-term problem solution. Once the team begins working on its long-term problem solution, if a team member leaves the team for any reason, that person's name must remain on the roster. Teams of less than seven may add members until they have a full roster.

Team members must design and create all aspects of their problem solution, including membership signs, props, all technical requirements (vehicles, structures, etc.), and costumes. These must either (1) be made by the team members or (2) be put together by the team members from commercially made parts. If team members are not able to make a solution, prop, costume or sign that they have designed, they must redesign it so they can make it themselves.

Coaches are to facilitate the team in creating their solution, but they are not allowed to provide suggestions on how to solve the problem. They should ask thought-provoking questions that stimulate thinking, but they should never hint at a solution. For example, instead of stating a question, Wouldn't this be better if you painted it blue, they should ask, are there any other colors that you think might work. Even repeating the first question would imply that the color the team has chosen is not sufficient. If the team asks the coach's opinion on which color he or she thinks is best, the coach should respond, you decide. Unless a situation is deemed potentially dangerous, always let the team make the final decisions on developing a solution.

Parents and supporters may act as tutors or instructors, but advise them that they may not suggest to the team members how to solve the problem. When it comes to solving problems, Odyssey of the Mind is a hands-on experience for kids and a hands-off experience for adults

For more information, download this document with various scenarios outlined.

(back to top)

How do I register my team for competition?

This year Northern Region teams will register online when their team is formed. This gives us an early basis to estimate how many teams might compete at the tournament. Early bird online registration ends 1/26/08 ($80 per team). Final registration deadline is 2/16/08 ($105 per team). You must register online for any team that could possibly compete, even if they are just thinking of forming a team. Download this short guide with the user name and pasword for online registration.

You are required to provide at least 2 volunteers for competition (at least 1 should be a Judge). You will not be able to compete without the volunteers.

(back to top)

Do you any links or suggestions for more information?

Try these sites...

"Creative Competitions", the official national site for Odyssey of the Mind web site. Creative Competitions has helped lead the way in the field of creative and divergent problem solving.

http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/

You tube has several OotM videos, you can see some actual competition footage

Youtube - search "ootm"

North Carolina Odyssey of the Mind- the official Odyssey of the Mind site for North Carolina.

http://www.ncom.org/

Earth Observatory- a NASA Earth science guide to OMER's earthly adventures.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/odysseyofthemind/

Practice problems from the official OotM site.

http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/practice/

Florida State OotM Coaches area

http://www.floridaodysseyofthemind.org/Spontaneous%20Aids.html

(if you have any others we can share, please let us know!)