
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 19, 1994                   TAG: 9403210175
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ODYSSEY OF MIND DRAWS MANY SCHOOLS TO VALLEY

In a windowless basement room at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School, a dozen adults have been meeting every week to plan one of the New River Valley's largest school academic competitions.

The Blue Ridge Mountain Region III Odyssey of the Mind competition will be held March 26 at Blacksburg High School and the Blacksburg Community Center. To pull off the event, which includes more than 45 teams in six divisions competing in a number of different categories, hundreds of parent and community volunteers are needed.

Odyssey of the Mind started 15 years ago to promote creativity and problem-solving among school-age students. Each year, students are challenged to solve problems, to "create a structure that can withstand a certain amount of weight" or "take a classical piece of literature and give it an interesting twist." Area volunteers judge the teams on their results.

"As a college professor I see more than anything else that [students today] are lacking in creativity," said Joe Merola who serves on the odyssey's executive committee. "And that's the neat thing about this - they can be so creative. ... They come up with the craziest answers and some of them work."

Students aren't the only ones who have had to be creative in making the competition work. The New River Valley was dropped from the Roanoke Valley's Odyssey Region competition last year because it was getting too big. Because most of the long-time directors and equipment went with the Roanoke region, folks in the New River Valley had to scramble to keep it alive for students here.

"I had been to 16 competitions and I knew what had to be done," said Aline Brinckman, who serves as Montgomery County coordinator. "It was mainly a matter of money. We couldn't get T-shirts because we didn't have enough money, so we made buttons. We couldn't afford ribbons, so we used felt. We had to be creative to do this, but it was more like a burning desire to put this on for the kids."

Groups like the Virginia Tech honor fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma and the Virginia Tech Odyssey of the Mind team have offered to help out in this year's event. But to keep the event going, volunteers and donations are needed.

Fifty volunteers are needed to be doorkeepers, runners or first aid station workers. Also, people who can do calligraphy, help clean up the site after the competition or set up the night before are needed.

For further information, call Joe Johnson at 921-2813 or Chris Pierson at 633-2037.

by CNB