Seven students from Sawnee Elementary School, in grades third and fourth, will compete in a Regional Odyssey of the Mind Competition on Saturday, March 25, in Lilburn, Georgia. Under the guidance of team Coach Diana Tribble, Amanda Middleton, Margaret Tribble, Brooke Burnett, Danielle Eck, Samantha Mele, Ivy Rummler and Olivia Decherd have been practicing for over five months.

For the long-term synopsis, the team chose Problem #1 (The Great Parade) where they had to design, build and drive a vehicle that will be used as three different floats in a parade. The vehicle will leave a Back Lot decorated as the first float, travel around a parade route and return to the Back Lot. There, it will change appearance into another float and travel the route again. It will repeat this one more time. One of the floats will have a technical feature.

The parade will conclude with a Spectacular Celebration, which will also include a technical feature. The team will create a theme for its parade and include a featured character in its presentation. They have chosen a pirate theme. In addition to the long-term synopsis, the team will also participate in a spontaneous competition.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program. For more information, check out www.odysseyofthemind.com