Odyssey of the Mind

This is huge! I was told that when the teams started practicing in November that a first year school rarely places in these competitions, let alone wins. So, after months of practice and hard work (an average of 175 hours per student) Shape Elementary School sent 5 teams to the regional competition in Bad Kissengen, Germany. And all five teams placed, and two teams won first place, which means going to the World Finals in Maryland.


That would be my Taylor! His team won first place for building a balsa wood structure that bares weight and a skit to present it to the judges. So you know what this means? A whole lot of fund raising in a very short amount of time. It costs each kid $520 for lodging and another $700 or so for airfare (this does not include the parent that goes with the child) and misc. expenditures. So, we figured out that we need to raise over $17,000 to send these kids to the World Finals, and we have less than two months to do it. Hello bake sales! And car washes, and flea markets, and lunches for teachers, and bingo night, and more bake sales, and a whole lot of hustling...

I am so excited and proud of my Taylor that he can take part of something so big. And it's so nice that we get to go to Maryland. I can't wait for a chance to go home and spend some time with family and friends. We all need this trip. And Taylor EARNED it all the way. I love you, son, you are amazing.