School board, Community & School Foundation chip in to send Odyssey team to World Finals competition in Maryland

Voorheesville Elementary School’s Odyssey of the Mind team is headed to the World Finals competition thanks to donations from the Voorheesville Board of Education and the Community and School Foundation.

The elementary school’s fifth-grade team earned a spot in the 29th annual World Finals competition by finishing second in the New York State tournament in March. (To read a story about the team's victory, click here.) However, the team has to pay its own way to the tournament, which will be held at the University of Maryland. The trip will cost about $4,000, and team members weren’t sure they would be able to raise that in time to make the trip. That’s when the school board and Community and School Foundation stepped in.

The school board voted recently to donate $2,500 toward the cause. The money comes from a state grant the district received earlier in the school year, said Superintendent Linda Langevin.

The Voorheesville Community and School Foundation also donated $2,500, of which $1,250 was a matching grant.
Foundation President Nancy Rucks said the Odyssey team’s success exemplifies the quality of education that Voorheesville students receive, so the foundation is pleased to offer its support.

I don’t think anyone ever imagined how much it would cost to participate in an international event of this scale, so we’re very lucky this year’s competition is in Maryland and not Hong Kong,” she said.

“We are honored to represent Voorheesville at the Odyssey World Finals and to carry the excitement of the community with us to Maryland at the end of May,” she said.