Anonymous wrote:Just because McKinley has a program, doesn't mean there is room for your kid. Generally there's only around 6 kids per group.

Oftentimes there are plenty of kids but not enough parent coaches. We are a McK Odyssey family and every year they seem to be begging parents to coach. I think this year one team at one level needed one or two more kids but otherwise the challenge is always too many kids and not enough volunteers.

At Tuckaohoe our number of teams goes up and down depending on interest and we try and find room for all interested kids. It’s a great program and the region 11 leaders are almost all APS teachers. Email them! They will help, they’re soooo helpful!

Just because McKinley has a program, doesn't mean there is room for your kid. Generally there's only around 6 kids per group.

Like just about everything in kids' extracurricular lives, it's run by parents. Obvious option is to start a team at your child's school. Recruit at least one other parent to help coach.

OP, go the Odyssey web site and look at the FAQ link there. It's somewhat buried on the site but it addresses the question. Your child could potentially join another school's team but a school team is permitted only one student from outside that school (and can say no) so your child might or might not find a spot on another school's team. Some other organizations besides schools can form teams -- see the FAQs -- but since you must have a certain minimum number on the team, it seems like it would be hard to put together a team at, say, a church, unless it had a large enough group of committed kids of the right ages etc.

Participation does have to be team-based so your best bet would be to step forward and organize this at your kid's school yourself! Note that a team is not required to compete -- so maybe you could spend the first year getting the program together and choose not to compete that year but work toward competing the following year--?

Another option could be Science Olympiad if your child is interested in science topics. That also is team-based and school-based. It's focused obviously on sciences but does have a wide range of topics--from entomology to geology to maps and geography, and it also has "building events" where students construct things like battery-powered mini vehicles, gliders and roller coasters. It's another option if Odyssey doesn't work out. Full disclosure, our family is involved on Science Olympiad so I'm more familiar with it but I have heard great things about Odyssey of the Mind!

You can Volunteer to be a school coordinator and coach for your team. It starts in September, so you should get your team members around the time school starts. Lots of information is available on the internet, and coaches will receive training. It’s a big commitment of time for the coaches though. Good luck!

Volunteer to be the school coordinator and coach. You’ll need to recruit for team members as well.

BTDT

You can start one.

We're interested in the Odyssey of the Mind for DD, who is in ATS . I searched online and found Region 11 (for APS), but do not see ATS on the list of participating schools. Is there any other way to join other than going through the school? I see that McKinley offers it as part of their afterschool program - but ATS doesn't have it.