by Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

The Benicia Unified School District is looking for adults to coach Odyssey of the Mind teams again this year, and time is running short. Training is this Saturday in Concord.

“We’re trying to get the word out: We need coaches,” Superintendent of Benicia Schools Janice Adams said.

Odyssey of the Mind teaches students to learn creative problem-solving methods, while having fun in the process.

By tapping into creativity and through being encouraged to find imaginative paths to problem solving, the program seeks to teach students skills that will provide them with the ability to solve problems — great and small — for a lifetime.

Odyssey of the Mind seeks to teach students to think divergently by providing open-ended problems that appeal to a wide range of interests. Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve those problems, and they are free to express their ideas and suggestions without fear of criticism.

The creative problem-solving process aims to reward thinking “outside of the box.” According to past program organizers, while conventional thinking has an important place in a well-rounded education, students need to learn how to think creatively and productively.

This is the second year the district will participate in the program — in March, the team from Matthew Turner made it to the state competition — and there will be a few changes.

“(There are) a couple things that we’re doing differently,” said Matthew Turner Elementary School teacher and Odyssey coordinator Kristyn Andrews.

“The elementary schools are not competing against each other. We have teams made up of students from all of the schools.

“Another thing that is new this year is that we have high school teams participating.”

The first Odyssey of the Mind competition of the 2012-13 school year will be March 2 at Concord High. But coaches are needed now.

“Anyone that is interested in being a coach, the last training is this Saturday,” Andrews said.

Prospective coaches need to be at least 18 years of age.

Step Up
The Odyssey of the Mind coach training is Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Willow Creek Center, 1026 Mohr Lane, Concord. For more information contact Kristyn Andrews at 707-751-2316. For information about Odyssey of the Mind, visit odysseyofthemind.com.

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