OSWEGO COUNTY – The Oswego County Academic Youth (OCAY) League kicked-off a new school year with an Olympic-themed competition that took place at Camp Zerbe in Williamstown, NY.
Titled, “Olympic Odyssey: The Heart of a Champion,” the competition challenged teams to showcase their skills in design, engineering, academics and athletics.
Teams of ten students, each selected by their advisors for their excellence in a variety of subjects—including geography, Olympic history, medicine, basic engineering, design, and the arts—competed in a series of events. These included designing Olympic flags, engineering and constructing Eiffel Towers, testing their academic knowledge with trivia and quizzes, and participating in relay races.
The competition welcomed guest judge Melissa Hellman from Oswego, who is an independent editor, writer and freelancer. She evaluated the teams’ custom-designed Olympic flags as the remaining challenges were measured and scored by the coaches.
While all teams demonstrated exceptional creativity and effort, Team Mexico claimed first place, led by advisor Shannon Bigelow. “I’m really proud of this group; they are smart, creative and are great humans who build each other up and magnify one another’s abilities,” she said. “I think that’s the most important role of any team member, and these students really made that happen.”
The winning team members were Olivia DeStevens, Rachel Gagnier, Jessica Hill, Luke Lemke, Stefano Magro, Sarah Marsden, Colin McWilliams, Angelina Nguyen-Truong, Sam Warchol and Hailey Workman.
The team from Sandy Creek finished in second place with Hannibal close behind in third place.
Reflecting on the entire competition, Bigelow shared, “Coaching OCAY League is such a special experience because I can see students collaborating to use their talents in unique ways that we might not see during a regular school day.”
OCAY League was founded in 1997 on the premise of academic excellence through the competition of schools in Oswego County. Teams are made up of eight to ten members and compete in several events throughout the school year, with the next competition taking place in November.
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