Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Odyssey of the Mind is a renowned competition that teaches students in grades four through eight how to use their natural creativity to become confident problem-solvers. Students work together in teams to solve unique, open-ended challenges that incorporate science, art, engineering, technology and math.
Six teams of Long Beach students recently took part in the New York State Finals in Syracuse, where they competed against more than 240 other teams. Five of the Long Beach teams, consisting of 37 students, qualified for the World Finals, with one team winning the state title.
At the World Finals held at Michigan State on May 24 and 25, a team of Long Beach elementary students was crowned World Champions, beating out teams from around the world.
“It’s hard to even put it into words,” Doug MacConnell, coach of Long Beach’s Odyssey of the Mind team, said of winning. “You take kids from all different schools, they’ve never met each other, and it’s not like they’ve grown up together and have this bond. But they form a relationship, and they become a family and they fight for each other, they work together, they learn. It’s a microcosm of the whole world. You don’t always get to pick who you’re working with, and you need to figure it out, and you need to come together in a positive way.”
Andie Techera is the co-coach of the elementary teams.
The team of eight Long Beach elementary students — Dylan Pinto, Nila Pennant, Arwynn Donofrio, Dylan Watts, Summer Schaffer, Maebry Kotula, Max Sendik and Eva Gonzalez — was recognized as the top team. The group focused on the 1871 novel Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, creating a presentation called “Through the Cooking Glass,” bringing to life an adaptation of the story. They did so by including a drum set made from kitchen items, a foam dragon fruit and a character named Chef Fungi Phil, who comedically struggles with his cooking.
For the competition, the team was able to select from multiple novels to create their own version of, with others including The Hobbit and Treasure Island. During their performance, students played roles such as the chef, vegetables, fruits, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and more. Dylan Pinto, 10, a fourth grader at Lindell Elementary School, played multiple roles on the first-place team, taking the stage as the conductor, a dragon fruit, a butterfly and a dog.
This was Pinto’s first year as a part of the Odyssey of the Mind teams, and it was a little intimidating at first, but overall, he enjoyed the experience.
“It was scary when we didn’t get second or third, but it was fun, all of it,” Pinto said. “I was ready for it, it wasn’t that bad. Before we performed, we saw another team perform, and they didn’t look nervous, so I knew it was not going to be bad.”
Teams are scored for both performance and style. The performance portion is scored out of 200. For the style portion, teams are given two things they must use, and then the opportunity to pick two unique things they want to use. This year, the team had to use utensils and a backdrop, and they chose to use a drum set — which they made themselves — and a table setting.
“I knew he was gaining so much from Odyssey of the Mind,” Pinto’s father, Sam, said. “It enriched him, it made him a better team member. When he won first place, I literally lost my voice.”
MacConnell took over the program a decade ago. Before he joined, Long Beach had only brought teams to the world championship three times. Since he took over, they have sent between 20 and 30 teams there. Long Beach had a team win the world championship in 2020, but it didn’t include many international teams due to the COVID pandemic. This year, it was the full deal.
A second elementary team competed in the Problem 5 category, which had teams create and put on a humorous performance based in a historical civilization. The team created a performance telling the story of an astronomer charting a course through the stars to preserve creativity. Eight students — Kennedy Wynn, Farhal Kahn, Rafe Faminsky, Captain Rauri Kennedy, Elle Cohen, Emelia Valencia, Grace Casale and Jack McNicholas — made up the team, which finished fourth in the country and seventh in the world.
“They become your kids, these kids. I love them, they’re my family,” MacConnell said. “When it all comes down to it, when it really counts, you just have to trust that you did the right thing. You have to trust that the kids are going to do the right thing, and they did, and they never let me down. Not one team I’ve ever had has ever let me down.”
A third elementary team represented as well, finishing second in the state, sixth in the country and 10th in the world. This team designed a robot squid that wanted to glow like its mermaid friends and, with the help of an evil octopus trainer, the robot helped its friend find love. The team — Rowan McLaughlin, Laina Sisko, Anna Chapman Garner Anastasia Senken, James Emery, Alexia Fink, Sadie Bergstein and Madeline Eckert — even sang during their show.
The district’s middle school team finished in third place in their category. The team of Kyveli Pefani De La Rosa, Robert Tozer, Brendan Salem, Allison Salem, Vivienne DePalma, Mia Kupchik and Camila Coad created a futuristic culture that worshipped a space whale, and even incorporated a few rap numbers.
The middle school team is coached by Eric Fox and Rachel Spitz.
A special team of eighth graders competed for the last time this year as well. Known as “Team Believe,” they started together during the unusual COVID year. The students — Jackson and Calie Spitz, Katherine O’Brien, Maven Aull, Patrick Maguire, Stella Gonzalez and Arlo Fox — made a mark in their last competition, placing seventh in the country and 12th in the world.
Over the last decade, Long Beach’s Odyssey of the Mind students have been wildly successful, winning two world titles, six top-three world finishes, 15 top-10 world finishes, three country titles, seven state titles and over 20 regional titles.
