Register Today! Learn more! Local Contacts 2008 Problem Synopses Practice Problems Classroom Activities Creative People Clarifications COU Sponsors Member Area Director's Corner Home

Microsoft® Awards Partners in Learning Mid Tier Grant to OotM®      Microsoft Corporation wants to stimulate positive change in education. In its own words, "Microsoft believes that we can help children reach their full potential." Microsoft's Partners in Learning initiative is bringing together people, partnerships, services, philanthropy and products to help achieve the goals of its 21st Century Schools program. The essential principle guiding Partners in Learning is "a belief that education transforms lives, families, communities; and, ultimately, states, nations, and the world."      The Microsoft grant was awarded to Odyssey of the Mind for "Integrating Odyssey of the Mind Strategies into the Classroom." In this four-year project OotM will: identify and quantify successful OotM strategies that can be used in the classroom. develop materials to help teachers integrate these methods. provide students with a learning atmosphere that allows them to reach their full potential. create a multimedia presentation, a manual and present workshops to teachers.      The project will take Odyssey of the Mind practices and incorporate them into the classroom. For example, an Odyssey of the Mind team solves a problem by analyzing it, identifying the goal and generating all types of ideas. It then evaluates the possibilities and selects the best idea. In the end, it created a solution and developed teamwork skills. Individuals learn from each other, negotiate impasses, and apply their knowledge. On their creative Odyssey, students make many friends and gain self-confidence while having an educational experience that is fun.      In too many classrooms learning is not very much fun and kids don't have opportunities to work together. Students are often discouraged from interacting with one another in order to prevent "disruptions." They are compelled to follow a single specific path to find a solution. Odyssey of the Mind shows there are many different paths you can take to reach a solution -- even in math.      This project will allow students to thrive socially and scholastically while interacting with each other in the educational process. The change Microsoft and Odyssey of the Mind are working together to create is to better prepare today's students for success in their professional futures. As the Partners in Learning project states, "The actions taken by governments, schools, and businesses now will determine the future."

Odyssey of the Mind, the Odyssey of the Mind logo, and OMER are federally registered trademarks of Creative Competitions, Inc. Microsoft is a federally registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation ©copyright 2006 Creative Competitions, Inc