Send flyers home with students and organize an awareness meeting at your school to promote the program and recruit coaches.
- Set the dates and locations for student information sessions and for parent informational meetings (if different). These awareness meetings are typically held in September and October.
- Contact our regional director if you’d like to invite a representative from the NoVA North regional board to attend and help out at your meetings.
- Download a sample flyer and signup form you can use—just change the information as needed.
- Share an overview of the program and copies of the problem synopses with the attendees.
- Consider holding Odyssey of the Mind “mini-sessions” for students (and parents!) at your information sessions so they can get a taste of what it’s all about. Give them a chance to try a few spontaneous problems.
- Make sure everyone is aware of the date of the Regional Tournament. It makes it hard for everyone if team members will have to miss the competition.
- Before their children sign up for Odyssey, make sure the parents understand the program and the commitment involved. Be sure they know where their participation begins and ends. Be sure they know every team must provide a JUDGE and a TOURNAMENT HELPER VOLUNTEER for the Regional Tournament and that they should start looking for them now. Every team will need a commitment from someone who will serve as a judge in order to register for the Regional Tournament by the deadline in January. The team’s tournament helper volunteer must be identified before the day of the tournament.
Posted in: 10 Steps to Starting an Odyssey Program