Every year thousands of students from around the world, as young as kindergartners and as old as college students, gather to compete in creative problem solving at the annual Odyssey of the Mind finals. At this year's finals, held from May 31 to June 3 at the University of Maryland, an Upper St. Clair student, Noah Simmons, won an award for his ingenuity.

Noah Simmons, who graduates from Upper St. Clair this year, participated in the competition on a team of seven students, coached by his father, Reid Simmons. Noah was one of five recipients of the Ranatra Fusca award, which is given to teams or individuals who display exceptional creativity at the competition. Over 800 teams and thousands of individuals participated at the finals this year.

The Odyssey of the Mind program, created over 25 years ago, is an international competition in which teams of no more than 7 students of the same age work with an adult coach to create a solution to a given problem. The goal of the program is to encourage students to challenge themselves to think, produce, and present creative solutions.

Students choose a challenge from among a list of five, and spend several months devising an innovative solution for the chosen problem. Adult coaches supervise the students' work, but do not provide assistance.

Examples of past challenges include creating a vehicle that can perform specific tasks; producing a dramatic performance that meets specific criteria; and building a lightweight balsa structure that can sustain heavy weights. At the tournaments, the teams' solution are presented and scored to a panel of trained judges.

Teams with the highest scores advance to the next level of competition. Teams first compete at a regional level, then on a state level, and, lastly, at finals.

This year Noah Simmons introduced the technique of using electro-magnetic paddles to move and place weights on his team's balsa wood structure. This innovative idea impressed the panel of judges, who voted to recognize him with the award.

"Noah's introduction of electromagnets is a truly sensational example of the 'there's got to be a better way' mentality that [the Odyssey program] encourages and nurtures," said Kathleen Himler, the program coordinator for Upper St. Clair.

The same Upper St. Clair team also won the award at the regional and state competitions. These awards were given for the team's artistic representation of linear perspective in its scenery and for the creative use of materials.

Alison Hess, a coach and official with the Upper St. Clair Odyssey of the Mind program, said that it is rare for one team or its members to win this award at all three levels of competition.

Also on Noah's team this year were his sister, Rachel Simmons, Riyana Bilimoria, Bridget Hubbard, Abby Massaro, Molly Patterson, and Johnny Simons. The assistant coach was Gwen Patterson.

Also participating in the competition this year from the South were students from Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, and the Trinity Area school district.

For more on Odyssey of the Mind, visit odysseyofthemind.com.