Odyssey of the Mind

New York Region 4

January 28, 2025

Message from Region 4

Odyssey of the Mind season is in full swing. Teams have chosen their problems and are busy working on their solution. Thank you to all the district coordinators and coaches who made sure all teams got registered. The new process this year wasn't always easy, and we appreciate you going above and beyond for your Odyssey students.

Questar III Region 4 Odyssey of the Mind is also busy planning for our regional tournament. Our Region 4 Tournament will take place at Coxsackie-Athens CSD again this year on March 15, 2025. Stay tuned for more details.

The success of our tournament relies on having enough judges for each problem. Please note that each team is required to provide 1 judge and 1 volunteer for the day of the tournament. See below for judge registration links and more information.

Coaches: because of the new system, we need a roster for each team. Please fill out THIS FORM so we have access to your coach(es) and team members.

Please reach out Kim or Maureen if you have any questions or concerns. Our contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter.

We are looking forward to hosting a fun-filled tournament!

Sincerely,

Maureen Squier, Region 4 Director

Kimberly Harris, Tournament Director

Problems are now available!

You can now short descriptions of the problems for the 2024-25 school year. You cannot see the full problem until you have signed up as a member with Creative Competitions, Inc. Information on how to do that is below.

You can also find information on the problems HERE.

New Odyssey Website

Odyssey of the Mind is finishing work on a new website for members. You can find instructions on how to sign up HERE.

Some things to note:

Each membership will have an 8-digit code associated with your account
The District Coordinator/main contact who sets up the membership has the ability to add teams.

Coaches should check with their District Coordinator to see how teams will be added

Once a registration is approved, the coach can log-in to their profile/account right away. However, teams will not be able to log-in to the Members Area until full payment is received (credit card, check, or a PO attached to registration)

You will not be able to see the full problems until the payment is received, but you can find the problem synopses below.

The website is still under construction. We will send out updates on the new website as we receive them, so stay tuned!

Team Rosters

Because of changes to the registration process, we do not have team rosters this year. We use these rosters to create the Odyssey of the Mind certificates we send out to all participants and winning team members. We also use this on tournament day to direct spectators to the correct performing space.

Please complete THIS FORM with your team member information by February 14.

As always, please reach out to Kim or Maureen if you have any questions.

Coach Training

We had technical difficulties during the coach training, and the recording from this year is not available.

The training video from last year is available HERE.

Updates for 2024-25 are available HERE

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Judges

Each year, our tournaments rely on people willing to serve as Odyssey of the Mind judges. There are a variety of roles for each problem:

Staging Area
Timekeeper/Announcer
Problem Judge
Style Judge
Spontaneous Judge

For more information on these roles, please visit the NYSOMA website HERE

To register as a judge in Region 4 or Region 7, please use this FORM

Volunteers

Volunteers are needed for help with registration, sales, information booths and a variety of other tasks, to ensure that the tournament runs smoothly.

Volunteers are needed throughout the day but have a limited time requirement, allowing you to watch some team performances.

All teams are encouraged to recruit a volunteer. Anyone interested in volunteering should email Tournament Director Kim Harris, kharris@questar.org