This is exactly the problem faced by Upper St. Clair High School students for the Odyssey of the Mind competition.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international competition for students from kindergarten to college level, in which they use creativity to problem solve. Through a variety of different sorts of problems, students learn not only how to think outside the box and create fun and new solutions, Odyssey of the Mind also teaches teamwork. The team from Upper St. Clair High School finished second behind Mt. Lebanon at regionals, which was enough to send them on to the state tournament in Altoona.

At the state level the team finished third and continued onto World Finals, held at the University of Maryland.

At the regional and the state level, the award was given to the team as a whole. At worlds, Noah Simmons received the only individual Ranatra Fusca given. This award was out of 800 teams. The award, named after a water insect, recognizes a demonstration of exceptional creativity by an individual or team.

In the case of Upper St. Clair, it was awarded because of a single aspect of the solution. Part of the problem involved lowering 45 pound weights onto the balsa structure. Lowering the weights quickly and evenly, though, can pose a major challenge.

"What lots of teams do is go home and practice putting on weights every day. They have two people and they pinch the side of the weight...I like to think I have a life so I can't go home and just practice putting on weights," said Simmons.

This is how he came up with the idea to create electromagnetic handles to evenly lower the weights down onto the structure.

"No other team has done what they've accomplished, whether in Upper St. Clair or in Odyssey history. We are so very proud of what the team has accomplished," said Kathleen Himler, Upper St. Clair Odyssey of the Mind coordinator.

Upper St. Clair overall had a successful year with Odyssey of the Mind, with 93 students participating, making up 14 teams. Five of those teams advanced to the state level.