SHERBURNE – The Sherburne-Earlville School District has a long history of success in creative problem solving competitions, such as the Odyssey of the Mind, but the school achieved a historic feat this month when three of the four teams sent to the New York State Odyssey of the Mind competition qualified to go to the international level of the competition.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that focuses on creative problem-solving. This year, the S-E school district sent 56 students in eight teams to the regional competition. The team members ranged in age, from elementary to high school. Four of the eight teams sent to the regional match qualified for the state competition, including Coach Palkovic’s elementary team, Coach Longman’s middle school team, Coaches Seddon and Ford’s high school team, and Coach Pfohl’s high school team. The other four teams still performed amazingly well, taking second and third place finishes.

Of the four teams that attended the state competition, three of those teams took first or second place finishes and will continue on to the world level. “Never in Sherburne-Earlville history have we sent three teams to the world competition,” said Odyssey advisor Jonathan Sherry. “In fact, no other school from New York state has as many teams going to worlds as we do.”