Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R,C-Ballston) and Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C-Mohawk Valley) were proud to introduce the Broadalbin-Perth High School Odyssey of the Mind team in the Assembly Chamber today to congratulate them on their first-place finish at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals on May 20-24 at Iowa State University. Odyssey of the Mind is an international creative problem-solving program for students of all ages, promoting teamwork, ingenuity, collaborative communication and critical thinking skills. Team members include seniors Logan Aery, Lauryn Donahue, Blaine Herrick and Jacob Hughes, junior Ryan Michalski and coaches Carl and Alison Aery.

This team placed first in Division 3, Problem 2, entitled “AI Tech-NO-Art,” which challenged teams to design, build and operate a device that determines if a work of art is beautiful or not; the device needed to dismantle a work of art that it decides is not beautiful to create a new work of art it believes is beautiful. The team also was one of four teams, and the only U.S. team this year, awarded a coveted Ranatra Fusca Award for exceptional creativity in their problem solution. This marks the fourth consecutive time this team has been to worlds, and the team is the first in Broadalbin-Perth history to win a world championship competition.

“I’m incredibly proud of our Broadlabin-Perth students who showcased their exceptional teamwork and critical thinking skills at the Odyssey of the Mind competition last month. The entire community is cheering on your outstanding accomplishment, and we cannot wait to see the future challenges you take on,” Walsh said. “Odyssey of the Mind instills in our youth the values of teamwork and accomplishment, and these outstanding students have clearly made a contribution to the spirit of excellence that is a tradition of their school.”