Odyssey of the Mind HQ's international director, Sammy Micklus, recounts the origins of what was then Olympics of the Mind – when his father and founder of the program Dr. Sam recruited him to volunteer. Sammy goes on to tell the tales – or tails, as OMER might say – of the program's milestones and memorable solutions, including a look at what goes into writing problems, scoring guidelines, and clarifications. 

This conversation was originally recorded in 2020, and released in 2023 following a busy three years this side of the pandemic – and, well, extreme procrastination. 

To support PODyssey of the Mind, you can share information about our Jumpstart Grant program with PA educators and parents at paodyssey.com/grants, or visit paodyssey.com/podcast to make a donation. 

Odyssey of the Mind's top dog (top raccoon?) joins us to discuss this past year's Virtual World Finals and how the coming 2020-21 season is shaping up. We're thrilled to have Sammy Micklus, Odyssey of the Mind HQ's program director, in this first part of a two-part series. 

Sammy's father, Dr. Sam, founded the program in 1978. Over the past 40 decades, Sammy has watched Odyssey of the Mind grow. This year, Sammy and his team at Odyssey HQ led thousands of creative problem-solvers and volunteers from around the world to navigate through an unprecedented "spontaneous problem." In this episode, he reflects on the outcome and looks forward to the new season. 

Good people of the PINternet, we're back! This week's ePINsode is chock full of pins. Pin trading is a staple of the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals experience. Long-time World Finals officials and pin gurus Ryan Blackman, Olivia Holvik, David Palermo, and Paisley Ramstead join us for our first coast-to-coast show to discuss the economics of pin trading, their favorite pins, displaying their pins, and their friendship born of a mutual love of – you guessed it – pins. 

These four Odyssey alums also extol the virtues of participating in Odyssey of the Mind and discuss the skills they use in their careers and lives to this very day. As Paisley says, "No matter what you're into, or what your skills are, there's a spot in Odyssey for you."