Sidney Odyssey of the Mind competes at regionals

Six teams from the Sidney Central School District competed recently at the Region 13 competition of Odyssey of the Mind held at the DCMO BOCES Harrold Campus.

The competition featured 14 area schools. Sidney sent 38 students from grades kindergarten-7.

Sidney teams earned a first place and two second places during the event.
The Division I team solving the long-term problem “Fins, Furs, Feathers, and Friends” won first place and will move on to the state competition. That event is April 2 at Binghamton University. Should the team win at the state meet, they would move on to the World Finals, which are held May 25-28 at Iowa State University.

The group that earned first place was coached by Marisa Orezzoli. Members on the team were Molly Barnes, Abdeiliz Laboy, Steven Lowenstein, Lillian MacRabie, Benjamin Miller, Marek Rajner, and Emma McKown.

The Division I team from Sidney solving the problem “Something Fishy” earned second place. The Division II team solving the long-term problem “Stack Attack” also finished second.

Something Fishy team members were Isabelle Briggs, Riley DeRoche-Chase, Grant MacRabie, Emily Morris, Anthony Spinu, Zoe Sullivan, Connor van der Sommen. They were coached by Tiffany Sullivan and Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs.

Stack Attack team members were Molly Barnes, Zoey Barnes, Lucas Carroll, Hannah Gregory, Connor Pierce, and coached by James Orezzoli.

Every year, the Omer Award is given to coaches, team members, parents, officials, or others who serve as positive examples or role models through their actions and words. It is awarded to individuals who exemplify the spirit and philosophy of the Odyssey of the Mind program. This year it was awarded to Sidney coach Marisa Orezzoli during the regional awards ceremony.

A photo of each team that competed is below:


Division I – Fins, Furs, Feathers, Friends: Coach Marisa Orezzoli, Marek Rajner, Benjamin Miller, Steven Loewenstein, Lillian MacRabie, Molly Barnes, and Emma McKown. Missing: Abdeiliz Laboy.


Division I – Something Fishy: Coaches Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs, Tiffany Sullivan (missing). Riley DeRoche-Chase, Isabelle Briggs, Anthony Spinu, Zoe Sullivan, Emily Morris, Connor van der Sommen, and Grant MacRabie.


Division II – Stack Attack: Coach James Orezzoli, Lucas Carroll, Hannah Gregory, Molly Barnes, Zoey Barnes, and Connor Pierce.


Division II – Fins, Furs, Feathers, Friends: Dylan Neer, Bruce Mistler, Anthony Morris, Danny Morris, Ayden Orezzoli, Anna Dewey, James Orezzoli, and Coach Marisa Orezzoli.


1st Primary Team: Back – Coaches Micah Strauss, Elaina van der Sommen, and Rebecca Strauss. Front – Autumn Grace, Chloe van der Sommen, Marley Silva, Zoey Brainard, and Nathan Strauss. Missing Shannon Crowley.


2nd Primary Team: Back – Coaches Kerri Green and Carissa Neubert. Front – Austin Loewenstein, Parker Loewenstein, Grace Green, Alex Neubert, Abigail Boyce, and Erin Neubert.