Odyssey of the Mind Team Headed for World Finals

They are mere children, but they stared failure in the face.

Failure blinked.

And now they have no fear of it.

Collingswood Odyssey of the Mind (OM), one of the newest (and certainly the most creative-minded) recreation programs in the borough is headed for a shot at a world title.

Not a state title, mind you; they already earned that in their April 13 victory at the New Jersey finals in Ewing, .

There, fourth-graders Elizabeth Allendoerfer and Lila DiMasi and fifth-graders Claudia Celia, Nick Eimer, Ellie Routzahn and Amanda Yeager (5th grade) beat out four other top regional teams in the Pet Project competition.

They did it with minimal parental support, as is the intent of the competition, and they did it in their very first year of participation.

Now the kids have punched their tickets to the OM World Finals, held May 22-25 at Michigan State University. All they have to do is get there.

"The World Finals is truly an international event with teams from all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, and other countries competing," wrote Kenneth Allendoerfer, Collingswood Odyssey of the Mind coordinator.

"To receive an invitation to World Finals in their first year of participation is tremendous honor and an amazing achievement," he wrote. "As a parent and coach, I couldn’t be more proud of how much the kids accomplished in such a short time."

For the hard-working group of volunteer parents who helped coordinate the competition, the chance to give their kids have the capstone to that experience is well within reach, but they're not going to be able to do it without some help.

The team needs to raise the money for "registration fees, room and board, and transportation for the kids and their creative contraptions," according to a statement on the borough recreation league page.

Want to help? Here's how: 

• Send in a check. Make it out (and send it to) to the "Borough of Collingswood"; write "Odyssey" in the memo line.
• Donate through PayPal, credit or debit card. Click here and scroll down to the PayPal link.
• Gifts in Kind. The group is going to hold several fundraisers until the competition. Allendoerfer asked that anyone wishing to donate a door prize or raffle item e-mail him.

And, Allendoerfer notes, there's no way the team could have gotten as far as it had without the dedication of some helpful volunteers:

• Chris (co-coach) & Frank (official) Celia
• Dawna & Mike Yeager
• Geoff & Shannon DiMasi
• Dave & Kim Routzahn
• Stu Eimer & Alyson Wiecek
• Sarah Mello