Happy New Year!

With news from NY Odyssey about Scholarship opportunities, pin design winners and pin pictures, important deadlines for coaches and our reular coaching corner.

Your STEAM-powered Odyssey!

Want to win $1,000 towards your school tuition or expenses?

NYSOMA’s scholarship committee is now accepting applications from high school seniors and college freshmen for the 2026 NYSOMA scholarships.

The challenge is to create a video and explain how you and your team used STEAM principles (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) in your Odyssey solutions. Brag about your creativity: performances, props, scenery, costumes and devices you have built using artistic and engineering design principles.

The deadline for submissions is March 1^st, 2026, and winners will be invited to receive their awards at State Finals and have their videos showcased on a giant LED screen.

For full details and to access the online application,

visit www.nyodyssey.org/scholarship-application.

COU Scholarships

Creative Opportunities Unlimited (COU), the non-profit arm of Odyssey of the Mind, is also accepting applications for a number of different scholarship opportunities.

If you are a high school senior, a college freshman, sophomore, or junior, or a college senior pursuing post-graduate education then consider applying for one of several COU scholarships. 

For more information,

visit https://www.creativeopportunities.org/scholarshipintroduction

Announcing the 2026 Pin Design Winners

Toaster set

- Veronica Talma - (Odyssey Alumni)

Block OMER

- Anabel Chan - (Sandfordville ES)

Playbill: Phant-OM of the Opera

- Evan Antolick - (Odyssey Alumni and Coach of the Division 4  team).

And here are all of the 2026 New York Pins

Take a sneak peek at this year’s finished pins – available for purchase at your local regional tournament and at the souvenir booth at State Finals

Toaster set

Chickens in Boots set

Fruit and Ladybirds set

Single Pins

Coaches Corner

Team Registration Deadline January 9^th, 2026

To compete in your regional tournament the team’s problem and division, plus regional tournament registration must be completed by January 8^th by 11:59pm.

Register in the Members Area in Odyssey HQ.

Any questions contact either your Regional Director or Lynn at Llucas@nysoma.org

Coaching Tips

Team Meeting Times

Fitting Odyssey team building and practice time around holidays, school breaks, and team member absences is hard!

• Morning meetings on weekends (or weekdays over breaks) may work better for your team than hectic afternoons or evenings. Plus, breakfast-y snacks like bagels or donut holes are always fun!

• Having your team divide themselves up into smaller groups of 2 or 3 to tackle long-term projects separately allows for different meeting times and locations, while still getting the work done.

• Practice the same Spontaneous problem separately with smaller groups of team members and then have them compare how Group A solved it vs. Group B.

Read the Problem!!

Don’t forget to read, read, and reread the Problem and the Program Guide – especially Chapter 5 and the Glossary.

Remember to submit any team specific clarifications by February 15th