Odyssey of the Mind California State Finals University of Riverside, California March 28, 2015
Our state board, state problem captains, and regional representatives are happy to have you here and welcome all of you to the California Odyssey of the Mind State Finals! Countless hours of planning and hard work have made this day possible. Every team member has been encouraged to develop skills in problem solving, teamwork, risk taking, and beyond the box thinking! We know you will be amazed at what you see today! There are over 200 teams from all over California participating in today s competition. Congratulations to each team for completing their problem and advancing to our California State Finals. You ARE all winners! The teams that advance today will be representing California at the Odyssey of the Mind 2015 WORLD FINALS held May 20-24 at Michigan State University!
General Event Schedule **Note that all teams must report to the Spontaneous Check in area (CHASS 1113) 20 minutes prior to their competition time. All teams must report to their long-term problem venue & check in 30 minutes prior to their competition time. 6:30 am on Dining venues open (see information flier for times and dining options available) 7:00 am Coach check-in begins HUB information desk (ALL coaches must check in here before checking in at their performance venue). 7:00 am-3 pm Structure Weigh In (Chung 215) Check your weigh-in time on the tournament schedule 7:30 am Long-term problem solution presentations begin. See the tournament schedule for the location of your team s performance venue. Families and the public are encouraged to attend performances and cheer the teams on! 8:00 am-4 pm Souvenir and t-shirt sales (located in the Latitude Grill ) Pick up pre-ordered pin sets before noon 8:00 am Spontaneous competition begins (see your team s competition time on the tournament schedule). Spontaneous is NOT open to families/the public. Check in at Spont check in tables in front of CHASS. 6:00 pm Doors open at the Student Recreation Gym for closing ceremonies. 6:15 pm UC Riverside Pipe Band will perform at the Student Rec Gym. 6:30 pm Closing ceremonies/awards (Scores will be posted online at www.calomer.org soon after closing ceremonies. No hard copies of scores will be handed out.) **Immediately after closing ceremonies there will be a brief meeting in the Student Rec Gym for coaches of teams advancing to World Finals. This is a REQUIRED meeting, even if you have attended World Finals Before. You will receive your state champion t-shirts and World Finals light-ups as well as other important information.
General Reminders Please review the Dos/Don ts portion of the UCR informational flier. Remember that we are guests on the UC Riverside campus and must follow all of their rules and regulations. Treat the campus with respect and clean up after yourself! Remind your team to have FUN!! They have worked long hours to get here and now need to relax and enjoy the experience. Be sure to spend time taking advantage of the wonderful activities provided by UC Riverside, financial aid/admissions workshops, and campus tours. Find time to view other team s performances and cheer them on. Coaches/parents NO OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE! Your team has worked very hard on their solution and does not need to incur a penalty for outside assistance. State board members and other officials will be on the look-out and will assess penalties as they see infractions. Please also conduct yourself with courtesy throughout the day. Please assign a parent or family member from your group to be a door monitor for your performance if there is not someone serving in that capacity already. Please make sure that your team s volunteer shows up for their job assignment. Remember to return to the room where your team performed their long term problem to pick up your long term raw scores. This is very important!!! Scores are usually available within a half hour of your performance. Information will be posted outside the venue when a team s scores are available for pick up. However, if you are one of the first 3 or 4 teams to perform, please confirm with the Head Judge about the availability of scores. Only coaches can request clarification of scores, and only with the Head Judge, and preferably when the scores are picked up. Neither coaches nor parents can approach the judging officials at any time. No one may confront an official without risking an unsportsmanlike conduct deduction being assessed against the associated team. 3rd place teams should keep all items related to their solution in case a first or second place team decides not to attend World Finals. This has happened before, so please keep everything until all teams have been confirmed for World Finals. Please support the Odyssey of the Mind program by purchasing souvenirs, t-shirts, and raffle tickets for the Odyssey quilt and pin towel. The quilt and pin towel will be on display near the souvenir stand. Funds from the raffle ticket sales and pin towel support the Bob and Judy Drogin Scholarship ($500 for college) for deserving seniors in high school who are California Odyssey of the Mind participants.
We are guests on this campus; please do your part to keep it clean. Take props and costumes home, do not use university trash cans. If your team advances to The World Finals, you MUST meet with the State Director immediately following the awards ceremony in the Student Recreation Center. I hope you enjoyed your Odyssey of the Mind experience and we look forward to seeing you again next year at the regional competitions. Thank you!! Lynn Larsen, California Odyssey of the Mind State Director Calling All Odyssey of the Mind ALUMNI!! Do you look at a roll of duct tape and think about what it could be? Do you love to take spaghetti, mailing labels, toothpicks and marshmallows and build a structure? Do the words "if one team member is stuck..." bring fear to your heart? Did you surprise your high school biology class by knowing what a "ranatra fusca" is? Then you MUST be an Odyssey of the Mind Alumni! We welcome you to the 2015 California Odyssey of the Mind Tournament and hope you join other OMERS in WHERE AND TIME, to share memories and stories. If you are interested in participating in Odyssey again but aren t sure how to do so, contact Janis Dewar at jdewar94507@yahoo.com. Regions are always looking for a few good Omers to help! Share your team s picture online!! If you have a great team picture from your regional competition, the 2015 State Tournament, or in preparation for either one, send ONE or TWO of your best pictures to Bob Lipman, at blipman@comcast.net. By sending in pictures you are giving our association permission to post them on our website (www.calomer.org). We are looking for action shots of the team in costume rather than the team holding medals. Thank you! Bob Lipman, Redwood Region co-regional Director
Special Awards for Seniors in High School Calomer Scholarships California Odyssey of the Mind created a scholarship program to recognize and reward students who have demonstrated creative problem-solving skills, outside the box thinking, dedication to the program and a desire to share their experiences with others. We believe that by supporting Odyssey students as they begin their college careers, we will develop new leaders for the program in the future. We invite participants to apply for this scholarship during their senior year of high school. The applicant must have been active on an Odyssey Team for at least three years and one of these years must have been in High School. Two $500 scholarships will be awarded: The Bob and Judy Drogin Scholarship and the California Odyssey of the Mind Scholarship. By applying you will automatically be considered for both scholarships. Check out the application at www.calomer.org under the teams tab. Calomer Scholar Varsity Patch To acknowledge OMers who have excelled academically, CA OotM is now offering a scholar Varsity jacket patch. Any high school student participating in California Odyssey of the Mind can apply, but you can only receive one patch during your high school years. Please make sure that you fill out the application completely, and provide all of the required documentation. The patch will be mailed out as soon as the application is approved, and your award will be acknowledged at the state tournament. Seniors who graduated in 2014 can also apply. In order to qualify for the patch, you must have earned a 3.5 weighted GPA for two or more semesters, and submit one signed letter of support. The letter must be from a high school counselor or high school teacher on district letterhead, or from your Odyssey of the Mind Coach. Your GPA will be verified by submitting a copy of your transcript (unofficial copy is fine). Materials submitted for review will not be returned. Check out the application at www.calomer.org under the teams tab.
Special Awards Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award The Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award represents the essence of the Odyssey of the Mind. It is presented to teams or individuals who exhibit exceptional creativity, either through some aspect of their problem solution, or an extraordinary idea beyond the problem solution. A successful problem solution is not a criterion for winning the award; rather, the award is a way to acknowledge and encourage creative thinking and risk-taking. Teams that earn a Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award at the state level of competition are awarded a medal and are eligible to advance to World Finals. Ranatra Fusca winners at the World Finals level receive a medal and have their team name engraved on the Ranatra Fusca trophy. This has been a tradition since 1981, and the trophy is on display each year at World Finals. OMER AWARD The OMER Award is named for the Odyssey of the Mind raccoon mascot, OMER, in recognition of individuals or teams who demonstrate outstanding sportsmanship, exemplary behavior, or exceptional talent. Recipients of this award may be coaches, team members, parents, officials or anyone else that tournament officials or directors feel exhibit these traits. This award is not intended to reward creativity. Anyone may inform a tournament official of a possible OMER s Award candidate. That official will then determine if that person should be nominated. All nominees are reviewed by a panel that determines the final winners. OMER award winners are given a medal but do not advance to the state tournament or World Finals. There are so many people to thank for this amazing tournament!! UC Riverside for providing such an amazing venue for our tournament! This took a team of UC Riverside and CA OotM board members over a year and a half to plan and coordinate this event.
Our volunteer judges and officials Your coach for all of their hard work and patience! Your parents for supporting you in Odyssey! Your state board and state problem captains: State Director Lynn Larsen Assistant State Director Diedre Girod State Tournament Director and State Treasurer Zack Beyer State Tournament Site Coordinator Lynn Larsen Secretary Micheline Escue Parliamentarian Janis Dewar Schedule, and pins Mark Lopes Souvenirs Lynn Larsen, Mark Lopes, Marilyn Tamura, Barbara Krishnan Hospitality - Janis Dewar, Barbara Han Program Jan Johnson, Lynn Larsen Drogin Family Scholarship Quilt Dick Wildman Scholarships Diedre Girod State Problem Captains Problem 1 Milt Hull Problem 2 Kal Krishnan Problem 3 Leslie Satin Problem 4 Dick Wildman Problem 5 Micheline Escue Spontaneous Cathy Parker Score Captain - Mark Hauser Regional Directors Bob Anderson - Los Angeles Heather Hammer and Patricia Hammer- Capital Gold Jan Johnson- Inland Empire Barbara Krishnan and Barbara Han- Silicon Valley Mark Lopes- South Central Cathy Parker and Bob Lipman- Redwood Marilyn Tamura and Lisa McLaughlin - Delta Beth Weissman Coastal Dick Wildman and Janis Dewar- SF Bay