There is no one way to start an Odyssey program. Every school and school system has its own guidelines for clubs and organizations, its own degree of faculty involvement, and its own approach to Odyssey of the Mind. Some schools provide financial support, and some do not. In Northern Virginia, Odyssey of the Mind is operated entirely by volunteers outside of the school system. Although the program is already supported by many schools in the region, you may find that your school does not yet have an established program. Here are the basic steps to starting a new Odyssey program at your school.
- Familiarize yourself with the program at https://odysseyofthemind.com/ (the home page has a description and resources)
- Determine if there is interest at your school or organization to form teams of 5-7 students, and sufficient parents/teachers to coach and judge for teams. A flier is available at https://www.novanorth.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Odyssey-Information-Flier.pdf
- Attend the coordinators meeting and coaches training in the fall offered by NoVA North which is free and open to anyone. The time and date will be posted on https://www.novanorth.org/. Sign up to receive notification of new posts (under the IMPORTANT LINKS heading).
- Purchase a membership at https://odysseyofthemind.com/steps-to-get-started/
- Form teams with 5-7 students with a coach for each. Review this page https://www.novanorth.org/wp/?page_id=2762 to see how to group team members.
Primary: Only K-2nd graders, performing the Primary problem at the Regional tournament in the spring
Div I: 1st -5th graders performing any one of the 5 divisional problems
Div II: 6th – 8th graders performing any one of the 5 divisional problems
Div III: 9th-12th graders performing any one of the 5 divisional problems - Register coaches and teams under the membership. Tutorials for these procedures can be found at https://www.novanorth.org/wp/?page_id=10363. Note that this does not register teams for the regional tournament.