Camden Central School District -

On Saturday, March 21st, the Camden High School Odyssey of the Mind team took part in the 2026 New York Odyssey of the Mind Association State Finals held in Syracuse. The Blue Devils placed tenth out of 17 teams competing in Division III, Problem III.

Odyssey of the Mind is a global scholastic problem-solving competition that challenges students to explore their creativity through performance art, engineering, and more. There is a long-term problem that encompasses the aforementioned disciplines, and a short-term "spontaneous" problem that students complete on-site.

Students must execute their long-term solution under strict budget parameters, and no outside assistance is allowed. As part of the long-term problem entitled “The Epic Quest”, Camden’s entry developed a performance based on the format of an epic poem, which generally features legendary characters and extraordinary deeds. In the performance, the students must encounter an original beast, rescue someone, and face a significant challenge.



For Camden’s solution, the protagonists were two orphaned siblings that have searched for their parents for a period of years. Their search leads them into a different dimension, and a powerful journey through the five stages of grief, where they must overcome a beast that embodies that grief. A search for their parents becomes a search for acceptance and closure in this powerful student-created story.

At state-level competition, the students had the opportunity to showcase improvements they made to their regional solution, and those improvements paid off. Prior to states, the Blue Devils were regional runners-up. With their performance at states, they outscored the regional champions while also measuring up well against top teams from across the state. The tenth place performance also represents a two-spot improvement over Camden’s 2025 result.

The team consists of seniors Alexis Albrecht, Abigail Arnold, Ben Gallagher, and Samantha MacMurray, and sophomores Phinean Callahan and Abigail Conover. They are coached by Jessica Harney and Melanie Callahan.

As part of the evening’s awards festivities, Harney received the NYSOMA Community Star Award from the New York State Odyssey of the Mind Association. Camden’s longtime co-coach and advisor received the honor for her tireless work to carry on the Odyssey spirit in Camden, and to drum up interest in the program across schools in the local area.