Inland Empire Region
Inland Empire has been a part of California Odyssey of the Mind since early on. We are excited to have OM in our area of such diversity and natural beauty. The Inland Empire region covers Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
SoCal Mission
The mission of SoCal Odyssey of the Mind is to administer, promote, and execute the guidelines, objectives, and rules of the Odyssey of the Mind program. The SoCal OM Association follows the guidelines set in the association by our bylaws, policies, and procedures. The organization is here for the support and guidance of the association members, volunteers, and students within the Odyssey of the Mind program.
International Mission
The International mission of Odyssey of the Mind is to provide creative problem solving opportunities for everyone and to foster original and divergent thinking. Through the Odyssey of the Mind program, coaches, parents, judges, and volunteers promote creativity by challenging teams to solve divergent problems, that is, those with more than one solution. By working in teams, participants learn teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, the appreciation and understanding of divergent views, and that a group can be a powerful thinking force. Students who participate develop a sense of self-respect and respect for others through development of their solutions, and through preparatory activities such as brainstorming and role-playing.
While the ultimate goal for most teams is to present their problem solutions in official competitions, this is not a requirement of participation. The purpose of the program is to provide students with an exciting learning experience that promises to be challenging and fun.
Program History
The Odyssey of the Mind has its roots in the Industrial Design classes of Dr. Sam Micklus, Odyssey of the Mind founder. As a professor at Rowan University in New Jersey (formerly Glassboro State College) Dr. Micklus challenged his students to create vehicles without wheels, mechanical pie throwers and flotation devices that would take them across a course on a lake. He evaluated them not on the success of their solutions, but on the ingenuity applied and the risk involved in trying something new and different. Students had fun. Word spread and the students’ activities attracted attention from the local media. Soon, people on the outside wanted a part of the action. This public interest led to the development of a creative problem-solving competition for school children. The Odyssey of the Mind was on its way. Since then, Dr. Micklus’s life has been happily consumed with developing problems for other people to solve. His rewards are in the joy and pride of the millions of participants who rise to the challenge of solving those problems.
California History
Shortly following the creation of the program, the state of California jumped on board. Starting with our first teams in 1982 and now growing to over 750 teams strong, Odyssey of the Mind has a solid foundation in California. The program has grown immensely each year with the thirst for creativity and problem-solving thinking.
SoCal Association History
The history of SoCal Odyssey started on July 22, 2018. The California Odyssey of the Mind Board voted to divide the state of California into two separate associations of NorCal and SoCal due to the physical size of the state and the growth of memberships.
