Students go on Iowa odyssey

Can an 8-inch high, 18-gram balsa wood and glue structure hold 830

pounds of weights? It can, if it’s built by the John Burroughs High

School Odyssey of the Mind team.

Team members Daniel Anderson, Benji Baker, George Erinakis, Carla

Manosalvas, Josh Patterson, Matt Patterson and Ben Sullivan finished

10th at the 24th annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals earlier this

month in Ames, Iowa.

The team, coached by Steven Everhart, competed against 45 teams

from as far away as Germany and Singapore. Odyssey of the Mind is a

problem-solving group with members who are of kindergarten through

college age.

Members decide on a problem, and the Burroughs students chose one

where they could build an odd pod, a structure that sits on its legs

and supports weights.

Molly Shore