[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SALUTE TO ``ODYSSEY OF THE MIND'' PARTICIPANTS FROM BETHEL, CONNECTICUT

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
group of remarkable young people from my home State of Connecticut. For 
the past 4 years, students from Bethel, a small, rural community in 
Connecticut, have participated in an international problem-solving 
competition called Odyssey of the Mind. This competition gives children 
in grades kindergarten through 12 the opportunity to develop their 
problem-solving and team-building skills by challenging students to 
develop unique ways to solve one of five long-term problems. A team 
spends countless hours together to develop and perfect a unique 
solution to the problem set before them. Their efforts are judged in a 
state competition and the winning team is asked to represent their 
state or country at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.
  Earlier this year, two groups of students from Bethel, CT, won first 
place in their respective categories at Connecticut's Odyssey of the 
Mind State Finals and traveled to Iowa to represent the State of 
Connecticut at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.
  Connecticut is very proud of Rosa Alison, David Berv, Ian Stebinger, 
Amanda Kaletsky, Amanda Sherman and Grace Menzies, who made up a team 
that won a gold medal in the Connecticut Odyssey of the Mind 
Competition 3 years in a row. I would also like to salute the hard work 
and dedication of Joshua Gewirtz, Elizabeth Cowan, Matt Voloshin, Jane 
Ballerini, Peter Geloso, Kerrlee Hunter and Paula Rashkow who also 
represented Connecticut at the Odyssey of the Mind Finals this year. In 
addition, I congratulate the student's coaches for a job well done.
  Clearly, these young students are fine examples of what can be 
accomplished when people put aside their differences and work together 
toward a common goal. Their creativity, hard work, perseverance and 
willingness to take risks remind us that Yankee ingenuity is still 
alive in Connecticut. I salute these young people and am confident that 
we will all be hearing more about these exceptional students in the 
future.

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